Kaijudo Generation RE:
by Shuriken16
Summary: Set in the near future, a teen named CJ and his family move to New York City, which brought about a Cybernetic Revolution thanks to the actions of the DCA Organization. Seeking adventure in his new home, CJ gets more than he bargains for when his friend convinces him to start playing the game Duel Masters. New heroes emerge as CJ and his friends take on the Duel World. Duel Start!
1. Roar Of The Savage Hero

**_[DCA Headquarters North American Branch]_**

"Block the entrances! Don't let him escape!"

Alarms blared as the figure wearing a black hoodie dodged and weaved through the security personnel that charged him. He was determined to get what he came for, and he wasn't leaving room for failure.

"Come on guys, you're making this too easy for me!" The boy laughed as he hopped alongside the walls to get around the increasing group. He spun back and threw down a smoke bomb that further subdued them, using this opportunity to pick up the pace.

More security appeared from the opposite end of the hall, but the hooded boy wasn't stopping his momentum. He jumped to his right and propelled himself from the wall, catching the lead guard with his knee, following that by spinning to kick another guard into the ones following him. As he rotated, he successfully planted his left foot on the opposite wall and pushed ahead over the subdued guards, barrel rolling as he landed. He quickly straightened up and kept his pace.

Once he reached his destination, he swiped the stolen key card he took from one of the guards and the door opened.

"For something as valuable as these their security could be much better. Mind telling me what's so special about these things?"

 _"All in due time my friend. Just grab them and go."_ The voice in his headset told him.

The boy shrugged. "Not like it matters honestly; as long as I get paid, I was just curious is all."

 _"Trust me, these gems will be worth your while."_ The voice told him.

The boy approached the computer on the opposite side of the room and inserted a thumb drive in the port and typed away. "Project NEO… sounds worth my while already." The boy stopped typing. "Wow; really worth my while."

 _"Don't get distracted now. NYPD is moving in on you so if I were you I'd stop gazing and take the prize."_

"Yeah yeah… and done." He hit the Enter key on the keyboard and several glass containters next to the computer slid open, revealing five silver boxes with a respected insignia and color marked on them.

"Sleek. I can use one of these." The boy said taking note of the one with the insignia of the Water Civilization engraved on it.

"He's in here!" A voice called from behind.

"Freeze! NYPD! Put your hands up!" cops began to flood the room, all aiming their guns at the boy.

Without removing his hood the boy looked up and smiled. He raised his hands and his right hand sparked with blue energy, like electricity. "Those toys never worked on me and won't work now."

"This is your last warning kid. Don't make this any harder than it should be."

The boy scoffed. "I should be telling you the same thing." His sparking hand darted towards his pocket and the cops opened fire.

The bullet shells clicked on the tile floors under their feet and each of NYPD's finest stood in awe at the thing standing in front of them.

The blue creature opened one of its abnormally large pincers and dropped the bullets that were fired, lining up with the shells.

"What is that thing?!"

"Haha, you're standing in the very building where this 'thing' as you call it, comes from and you don't even know what it is? His name is Aqua Guard, and he's a creature from the game this company has made billions of dollars on."

"That doesn't make sense, how can that thing be standing right here?"

"Well while you try to find the answer to that question I'll take my leave. Aqua Guard!"

The blue monster turned to a window and smashed the glass. The boy grabbed the drive and decks and followed Aqua Guard as the pair escaped the room.

The squad of officers ran to the window only to find the boy long gone.

"Did any of you see his face?" The leader of the squad looked around.

His subordinates could only shake their heads. The leader bit his tongue and found the nearest, most inexpensive thing to kick. "This kid's really grating on my nerves…"

Aqua Guard hopped from one building to the next with the boy in tow. The boy laughed as he took pride in yet another successful heist.

 _"By your laughter I can assume that things went as planned."_

"You expect any less?"

 _"I wouldn't have hired you otherwise. Now then, drop these off at this coordinates and await further instructions."_

The boy took out his phone and read the map.

"Huh. Have me steal some top secret info and equipment and you want me to drop everything at the most high-end social café in Manhattan."

 _"Just the decks. The drive you keep. You'll need it for phase 2."_

"Alright if you say so." the boy cut the communication off and pointed Guard in the direction in which to go.

* * *

 _"Duel Masters… a card game that swept the planet on an international scale in the early 21_ _st_ _century, players use creatures and spells of the five civilizations in order to break their opponent's five shields in order to deliver one direct attack and claim victory! Now are you ready to claim victory? Do you favor the law and order of the Light Civilization? Or are you an intellectual who stands alongside those from the Water Civilization? Do you prefer to lurk in the shadows and tame the night with the Darkness Civilization? Or does your passion burn bright like those of the Fire Civilization? Why not take a walk on the wild side and let out your inner beast with the Nature Civilization? The Five Civilizations await your answers and expect to see you in the Battle Zone! Available at local hobby shops and retailers where board games and sold."_

"I can't believe this game's gotten as popular as it has."

These were the words of a dark-skinned boy of roughly sixteen-years old as he walked away from an advertisement promoting the ever-so popular TCG. His name is Christopher, "CJ" Henderson, and his family and him just arrived at JFK Airport in New York City.

"I'm sure it's just another fad that will die out soon enough." The boy's father, Nate Henderson pointed out. "Y'know just like those spinning tops you spent your allowance on every week when you were nine."

"I doubt it. Things out of Japan get old, the creators reinvent it, and then ship it out to the younger generation. This on the other hand, is something else entirely."

"Why are you so worried about it?" His mother, Catherine Henderson asked curiously. "I thought you outgrew these things."

"Because a certain best friend of mine has been bugging me about it since I told him we were moving out here. And I don't know what he sees in it, but if he's gonna get me to play some nerd game then he's gonna _really_ try and convince me."

"Wasn't Jake on the football team at his school?" Nate brought up.

"And then the school opened a Duel Masters Club and he jumped ship. Went from slinging pig skin to slinging cards."

"Wow. For him to give up football this game must really be something."

"Speaking of, I talked to Janet the other night. She said that they'll be waiting at the house for us to help us move in." Cathrine mentioned.

"Oh yeah they'd better. Least they can do for dragging us out here."

"Did they really? I thought you said your new supervisor requested the transfer personally." CJ asked.

"Who do you think it is?"

"Ah. Well that's kinda cool. You get to work with your best friend."

"CJ bud, you'll understand when your older that just because you work with your best friend that doesn't mean it's all fun."

"Well when you put it like that it makes me not want to grow up."

"Good, keep telling yourself that."

The family of three made it outside the airport and was immediately greeted by the blaring car horns, impatient people pushing and shoving, the Airport staff _instigating_ the pushing and shoving… when all they needed was a taxi.

"Yup, nothing says 'Welcome to New York' like noise, pollution and obnoxious people."

"You think the West Coast was any different?" His father looked back.

"You have to admit we had some kind of peace of mind back where we lived. So far it's been twenty minutes since we landed and already I'm regretting not staying with Grandma."

"You had your chance, you know." His father managed to grab a taxi and ran to it before someone noticed.

"Yeah yeah. I'm gonna remind Jake that he owes me one."

"Look at it like this: new city, which means new friends, new experiences; its like a brand new adventure of sorts, right?" His mother tried to put it as they got into the van.

"Give me the rest of the day to answer that." CJ strapped in.

With the car fully loaded, the Taxi maneuvered itself out of the airport and began its trek out of JFK airport. Throughout his trip, CJ allowed his eyes and mind to wander as he took in the advanced beauty of NYC first hand.

NYC was known in recent years to have gone through a cybernetic revolution that many cities began to adapt soon after. Virtual reality technology became ever so popular during the mid 2010s and the variance that brought to the terms of creativity was unreal. Now, the city continues to thrive ever so with the advances of science.

And this was something that drew CJ to NYC in the first place. Just the thought of living in a city so 'futuristic'. Living in the city in general. Coming from a small town just on the edge of the West Coast, CJ's father has traveled the world and sent postcards of the sights seen. CJ, despite his first reaction, always admired NYC, how it looked during the holidays, and how for a city so busy it managed to function the way it did, and even take it a step further and advance itself. It seemed like a science-fiction setting, but he wasn't complaining.

Because this was his home now. And he was excited to delve into whatever adventure awaited him in his new home.

* * *

Chapter 1: Roar of the Savage Hero

* * *

Nate wiped the sweat from his brow. "Okay, that's the last box—finally."

"You know I offered to do most of the heavy lifting." the older Caucasian male, Robert Wilson said lugging a box from behind through the front door of the apartment.

"Yeah, no. Last thing I need is for you to break something else of mine."

"You're _still_ mad about that game system back in college? That was over twenty years ago. I even bought you a new one."

"Which you got off eBay with a faulty disk drive so none of the games would read." Nate pointed out.

"What about the time you broke the strings on my guitar?"

"How is that relevant?"

"It was my Father's! it was a graduation present!" Robert snapped.

"I replaced the strings, didn't I?"

"And then you took it to impress the worker at the campus café."

"It worked, didn't it honey?"

Catherine looked out from the kitchen. "I thought it was cute."

"Case closed."

CJ and Jake Wilson, a husky-looking teen with short brown hair wearing a Pittsburg Steelers Jersey watched back and forth as their Dad's went at it while enjoying the pizza sitting nearby on an unopened box. They managed to get the movers to get the couch in first, in which they dropped it in the middle of the living room. To add to that, their parents let them veg out until it was time to move it, just so the pair could catch up on the six years they missed out on."

"Ever wonder if we're gonna turn into our dads?" CJ asked.

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know the way they bicker back and forth on things that happened way before we were thought of."

Jake laughed. "Oh yeah, I can imagine that for sure. Twenty years from now we're gonna bicker about how I talked you into playing Duel Masters with me."

"Yeah, gonna be like—ah nice try. Answer's still no."

"You haven't even given it a chance."

"Why should I? We're so close to graduating, I mean shouldn't we be focused on growing up and stuff?"

"First off, we still have a good year until then. Second, you can be grown and still act like a kid. Exhibits A and B." Jake gestured to their fathers, who found something else to bicker about.

CJ laughed. "Still my point still stands. Try all you want but I don't see myself playing that stupid game anytime soon."

Jake nodded. "Alright. Try saying that tomorrow night."

"Why tomorrow night?"

"Because, after school, I'm taking you to TCG Towers. That way, you can see for yourself why I got so into this game. Remember, this is NYC, currently the leading city in the country in terms of the Cybernetic Revolution."

CJ raised an eyebrow and Jake quickly changed his pitch. "Tell you what. One shot. If I can't convince you to start playing after tomorrow, I'll drop it and leave it be. Deal?"

CJ rolled his eyes. "Alright. One shot."

"Promise, you're gonna love it."

"Yeah, we'll see."

* * *

The next morning, CJ exited the lobby of his apartment building, ready to take on the world that was NYC. Only problem was however, he didn't know what train to take to get to school. Immediately he grabbed his phone and called Jake.

"Dude, how do I get to the school from my house? Okay…transfer to the—walk how far? Can't you just meet me here? Because you owe me one. Because I could've moved in with my grandma but I decided to come to this god-forsaken city to see you instead! Alright, alright fine. Don't worry about it, I'll figure it out. I mean, there's bound to be someone wearing these school uniforms, right? Yeah. Alright. I'll see ya soon."

CJ sighed and walked down the block. He saw the station around the corner and headed down the stairs. To his delight, he saw some students dressed in the same dark green/black uniform he was forced to be stuck in and proceeded to follow them to the train platform.

And then it dawned on him that he didn't have a MetroCard, the pass to gain access to the MTA services in the city. He looked at the sign above and saw that the next train was roughly five minutes away so he jumped on one of the lines for the MetroCard vending machines.

And as his luck would have it, the machine asked him more questions than he needed to be asked. All he needed was a card and the machine wanted him to specify what kind of card? He bought a $10 card, figuring that the school would supply him with a Student card when he got there and he quickly got onto the platform as the train pulled up.

All the while thinking about how he wanted to kill Jake at that moment.

The students all piled onto the train in droves and before CJ could react he quickly realized his unfortunate circumstance of standing. A definite sign of "Welcome to New York". As such he found a spot against the door and allowed his bag to drop between his feet. He didn't know how far "Midtown" was but he figured the second he would see the students get up and leave in a unified motion then that would be a sign. In the meantime, he'd let his eyes wander, getting an idea on what kind of people took this route on an early Wednesday morning like this. Like he expected, he saw adults dressed in business attire, most likely heading to work, mothers with little children, taking them to school, and the rest were students, either heading to their respected schools, or to Fiona Academy, same as him. Nothing interesting, in particular.

And then a couple of stops later, several more students joined the fold. By this point, many of the initial passengers already departed so there was more breathing room in the train. One of these students did what CJ was doing, leaning against the door opposite of him. She had fair skin and long, silky black hair tied back. It took CJ a moment to realize that he was staring a bit too long and tried to find something more interesting to look at. Yet his eyes kept finding themselves back towards her.

Or more specifically, the odd silver-color object on her belt. Just what was that thing?

His eyes shifted back up and her eyes locked with his. A moment of awkwardness shrouded CJ at this moment, so much so that he didn't notice the door opening behind him, causing him to fall back onto the platform. People on the train looked over to him to check to see if he was okay, while the students who watched him flop on his back, cackled as teens do as they made their way off the train.

Guess this was his stop.

He got himself up on his feet, trying to shake off his embarrassment…which only went further when the very girl approached him with his schoolbag.

CJ's voice caught itself in his throat and his face grew redder by the second. He didn't know what to say to her, let alone do at that moment.

"Try saying 'thank you.'" Jake approached from behind and patted his friend on the back. He took the bag from the girl and handed it to his friend.

"You know him?" the girl asked Jake.

"Yeah, remember the friend I was telling you guys about?"

"Oh, the one who thought dueling was just for kids."

"That's the one."

"Whoa hold on time out!" CJ cut in.

"Look at that he does have a voice." The girl said. "Got a name too? Or should I just refer to you as the 'creep on the 5 train?'"

"This is my best friend, Chris, or CJ." Jake introduced him. He then turned back to her. "Wait what'd you call him?"

"Uh bro, a moment?" He grabbed Jake and pulled him back. "You have some explain to do."

"Look, I'm sorry I couldn't meet you this morning I had something to take care of."

CJ looked down and noticed the same silver box on his belt. "Three guesses I can figure out what it is."

"Okay, I can explain."

"Explain what? Dude you're scaring me with this. Don't you think you're a little obsessed?"

"Look, just… doesn't matter I'm obsessed with this game or not, you still owe me that one shot. Don't let my passion for it turn you off. I still have all day to prove otherwise."

"Hey Jake, are you and the creep gonna hurry it up or can I leave you here?" the girl said as she walked ahead of them.

"The creep has a name you know." CJ called out.

"Pretty sure that's what the 'C' stands for." She said, not stopping.

CJ turned to his friend. "And for a second I thought she was actually pretty cute."

Jake laughed, not expecting that. "Jamie? Dude, she's one hothead you won't be able to handle. I'd advise to not even try that one."

"Don't worry, I won't bother." CJ said, beginning to walk up the stairs.

* * *

"Any news on our perpetrator?" Robert knocked on Nate's office door.

"Not gonna lie, it's hard trying to do that and move all my stuff in."

"Sorry, but Roman's really coming down on me." Robert said, closing the door. "Those prototypes were invaluable."

"How invaluable exactly that you had to drag my family and I across the country?"

"'Fate of two worlds' invaluable." Robert said with a rather serious tone.

Nate took a deep sigh. "And apparently, not only did this kid swipe those decks, he also took something off the computer in the room as well. Is that above my paygrade as well?"

"You know I have no idea myself? There are some things in this company that even I don't know about."

"Isn't that shocking? For someone who hung up their slinging arm for a pushy desk job to climb the corporate ladder, I imagined you'd be one of the first to know."

"Don't kid yourself, I can still duel circles around you." Robert said. "But you're not wrong. Roman and the other higher ups are being secretive about this. Whenever they do this it makes me wonder how much longer the DCA can keep up the façade of being a gaming corporation."

"Ever given it thought that they do this _to_ keep up the façade? Last thing we need are actual Locomotivers making transfers at Union Square. Speaking of, is Jake any wiser to this?"

"If he is then he's hiding it pretty good. He and his friend Dylan talked the principal at Fiona Academy to open a Duel Masters Club to her dismay. Now that Jake's not playing Football as much, the Dragon's shot at the championship is on a steady decline."

"You're saying that rather proudly. When he was born and you left the field, I was sure you wanted him to have a normal life."

"And yet I never seen him happier than when he's dueling with his friends. If I didn't know better, he might just become a strong Light duelist like his mother."

Nate laughed. "Shame he won't take on your green thumb like you hoped."

"This coming from the one who was hoping to have a firecracker of a kid."

"Like CJ will ever take an interest in dueling. Whenever the topic is brought up he's the first to talk smack about it. Frankly it gets redundant after a while."

"I'm sure he'll come around to it. It took Catharine a minute to get into the spirit of things, right?"

"Granted this was after she realized that her fiancée was some special agent who swore an oath to protect Earth from the creatures that go bump in the night."

"And it took Janet to relate her experiences for her to accept that her life wouldn't be the same afterward."

"Haha, yeah right." Nate sighed. "We've been through a lot, haven't we?"

"That we have. Part of me thinks that while having Jake was the greatest achievement in my life, it held me back from doing more."

"Well what else could you have done? Family first, adventure second. That's what we all agreed on. That's why we're pushing papers and our wives are out drinking Starbucks and planning lunch dates."

Robert nodded. "Yeah, guess you're right."

"Of course, I am. Now go on, before Roman sends the hounds on you. I'll update you if I find anything worth noting."

"Appreciate that." Robert got up and headed towards the door. "Oh, one more thing." He stopped and turned back.

"Yup?"

"Sushi Yasuda, East 43rd." He said. "Janet mentioned it this morning. Said she'd let me know how it is after she and Catharine try it out."

Nate chuckled. "Hopefully it's good. Been years since I been to Japan, I could go for some ramen now that I think about it."

"I'll be sure to find a menu for us to check out after work today. Consider it thanks, for helping me out with this investigation."

"Just explain to my wife why I'm coming home late."

"I'll get Janet on the case."

Nate laughed as Robert exited the room. He looked down at the box next to the desk and reached for the frame with a photo of them when they were younger. The four of them, young DCA agents living the life that's known to a seldom few. A life that opened their eyes to things beyond their wildest dreams, and the opportunity to maintain it.

The lives of Kaijudo Masters.

* * *

With the signal of the final bell ringing proudly, the students of Fiona Academy flooded the hallways, either heading home, or to after school activities. CJ headed outside with the drove of students, thinking to himself the ordeal it will be with all these students cramming onto the subway.

"Hey CJ hold up!" Jake called out from behind. "You weren't trying to sneak away, were you?"

CJ turned around and saw Jake, Jamie and two other teens coming up to him.

"No of course not." CJ denied. "Because you still have to prove to me that Duel Masters is worth my time."

"Yeah…you're not fooling me." Jake wrapped his arm over his shoulder. "While I have you, I'd like you to meet two of my other friends. Dylan Rodriguez and Karon Davidson."

Dylan and Karon were both dressed in the school uniforms but with slight alterations. Dylan was a Hispanic teen with short spiky hair and he had a pair of bright blue sunglasses sitting at the top of his head. Karon was a tall dark-skinned teen of middle-eastern descent, with slicked back black hair. His uniform jacket was opened and his collar loosened with his tie being loosened as well.

"Yo, it's a pleasure." Dylan waved.

"What he said." Karon said in an uncaring tone.

"Yeah… nice to meet you guys." CJ nodded. He examined them both and that's when he noticed that like Jamie and Jake, they also had those boxes on their waists. Which meant that they were also playing the game. So CJ deduced that because of this game, Jake has become friends with a stuck-up chick, a kid who's trying too hard to look cool, and a brooding, anti-social scarecrow.

In short, Jake traded being a Jock for becoming one with the social outcasts. And he was trying to drag him into the fold. Just what was it about this children's card game that he'd put it over social status? It was mind blowing to him.

"So, ready?" Jake asked him.

"Ready for what exactly?"

"For me to convince you that this game isn't a waste of time. Told you by tonight I'm gonna have you playing."

"Only if you keep your promise to drop this afterward."

"I swear on the bro-code." Jake held his hand up. "Now lets just get to the store."

"Wait…I thought the Duel Masters Club was here at the school?"

"I never said that. It's at Karon's family's store."

CJ turned around. "Your family owns a store?"

"Ever hear of TCG Towers?" Dylan spoke for him. "It's like one of the biggest social areas in Manhattan."

"I've literally been here for twenty-four hours, forgive me for not having time to explore."

"Alright that settles it. Onward!" Dylan pointed ahead. He took point and ran down the street. Karon began to walk and Jamie followed along.

"Am I really doing this?" CJ turned to Jake.

"Remember, you promised me one shot."

"Yes, I know, genius, it was rhetorical." CJ sighed. "Better be worth the trouble is all I'm saying."

* * *

"So… is it worth the trouble?" Jake said with a smirk, looking at CJ's wide-eyed expression.

"It's…" CJ tried to find the words to describe what he was witnessing. "Dude it's…"

"Seven-letter word. Starts with 'A' ends with 'Wesome'." Jake said.

"Yeah…that." CJ finally remembered to blink.

CJ pressed his face against the glass as the teens looked down and watched as the two duelists commanded their monsters to do battle. They stood across from one another on platforms that were raised from the floor with VR Generators surrounding them, bringing the creatures on the cards to life.

"I honestly have no idea how this can get any cooler." CJ said becoming engrossed at the sight.

"What if I were to tell you this is only the first floor?" Dylan asked him, feeding off his excitement.

CJ then became one step closer to losing his mind.

After calming down and learning that Karon's family is wealthy by a considerable margin and own the entire 50-storey building, Karon went behind the counter and pulled out a silver and green deck case, similar to the ones they had, a white glove with green grips on it and an ID card."

"What's all of this?" CJ asked.

"Deck, Dueling Glove and ID Card. All duelists who intend on participating in official DCA-Sponsored Tournaments are required to carry those IDs with them." Karon explained.

"Well, I don't wanna get your hopes up. I might not even start playing." CJ noted.

"Just take it and register it. You just might/will wanna keep playing." Jake said. The Dueling Glove on the other hand, is required because it helps you interact with the Kaijudo Terminals."

"Kaijudo…what?" CJ asked.

"Y'know, K-Terminals; that VR system they had down stairs, but table-sized." Dylan clarified.

"Ah." CJ looked at the case. "Are there cards in here?"

Jamie drew his attention. She tapped the side of the deck and the case popped open.

CJ nodded and pushed down on the case and like it did for her, his case popped open. He took the cards out and grew a small smile. "That's kinda cool, they're all green. My favorite color."

"Whenever you're ready, let's begin." Jamie said.

"Wait, you're gonna duel him Jay?" Jake asked.

"Why not?"

"Oh no, go ahead, by all means."

"You're not telling me something, are you?"

"Look I don't care who duels, can we get this over with?" CJ asked, rather rudely.

The pair stopped and looked to him. "Like I said Jay, all yours." Jake stepped back.

"Yeah thanks. I'll be sure to make the most of it." Jamie said.

Suddenly CJ felt the atmosphere shift some with that last comment and he quickly looked up to Jake who held his hands up, not wanting anything to do with what was about to happen.

"Your funeral dude. Although short, it was nice knowing you." Dylan patted CJ on the back.

The five teens made the trek to one of the upper floors away from the customers and other players and rode the elevator to a special room When the door opened, CJ was introduced to what looked to be a training facility. In the middle of the room was a silver console with a dome across the tabletop. On each end was a space that was marked with seven rectangles that went down across the middle and on the right on both sides a circular space with a hand imprint.

Jamie walked in first, going towards the opposite end of the console and activating it. The machine powered up and CJ made his way over to the free side.

"So this is where we duel?"

Jamie nodded, strapping her glove on. She set it on the side where the circle was and the console read her glove.

 **"** **Duelist Jamie Martin: Confirmed!"**

Figuring he had to do the same, he rested his gloved hand on the circle on his side and the machine whirled to life on his side as well.

 **"** **Duelist Unknown: Please insert ID and input first and last name, or confirm as Guest Player."**

CJ looked down at the ID card and rolled his eyes. A slot opened under the circle and he slid his card inside. The K-Terminal then projected a virtual keyboard and with his gloved hand CJ typed his full name. There was then an option for a nickname, but for now he ignored it.

 **"** **Duelist Christopher-James Henderson: Confirmed! Duelist, please shuffle and set the first five cards of your deck into your Shield Zone. Then set the remainder of your deck into the Deck Zone and draw five cards to begin the game."**

CJ slowly tried to follow the instruction, but just ended up watching Jamie do it. In the first five spaces five cards went face down. Then she set the deck next to them and drew five cards.

"You have a hard time keeping your eyes to yourself, don't you?" Jamie said, noticing him watch her.

"Jeez lay off will you? Don't forget you're the one who volunteered to be my first opponent."

"Only because I wanted to crush the creep who was staring at me all throughout my ride to school. Be grateful you're Jake's friend or else I'd be using my fists instead of a deck."

CJ scoffed. "Dear god what did I get myself into?" he muttered under his breath.

"Shields up!" Jamie commanded and suddenly five holographic rectangles appeared on her side of the terminal.

"Uh…" CJ paused for a moment. "Shields up?"

And to his surprise five shields appeared on his side. To say he didn't get excited would've been a lie. He regained his composure. "Alright now what?"

"Now we begin. Duel Start!" Jamie said.

"Duel Start!" CJ followed and with the commands the terminal came to life and created a virtual landscape within the field. A line shot down the middle across the field and on CJ's side trees began to sprout and populate, creating a forest towards him, while on Jamie's side, volcanoes and rocky terrain began to sprout about. The two fields intersected and connected in the middle, signifying the dividing line between Battle Zones.

"Alright new kid, I'll start off, so just watch." Jamie took a card from her hand and set it on the area behind her shields upside down. The red card flashed and within the terminal a red crystal materialized and faded away.

"It must pain you to let a 'creep' watch what you do, doesn't it?" CJ asked her.

"Focus will you?" She threw a glare at CJ that made startled the boy a bit. She turned the card sideways and in the terminal, the gem came back. She pulled back and retrieved another card from her hand. "I summon Deadly Fighter Braid Claw."

The crystal began to rotate rapidly and glow to CJ's amazement and from it, transform into a A light armor clad dragon-man, with red-tipped braids and armored claws. It roared when it touched its home turf.

 ** _Deadly Fighter Braid Claw_**

 ** _Civilization: Fire_**

 ** _Power: 1000_**

"Creatures summoned have what's called 'Summoning Sickness', which means that it can't attack. So I'll end for now. Since you're going second, you're allowed to draw during your starting move. You add a card into your mana zone once per turn and when you have enough you summon creatures and cast spells that match the small white number on the card. Got all that."

"Seems easy enough." CJ drew. He set a green card into his mana zone and the green crystal materialized in a similar manner before disappearing. "I don't have anything the costs '1' so I guess that's all I can do for now. I end."

Jamie drew her next card and set a second fire card into her mana. "I summon Mini Titan Gett."

Two fire crystals appeared and joined together forming into a spiky haired kid-like creature wearing an open trench coat with armor around his collar, arms and legs. The collar armor had boosters, while the arms and legs had mini missiles and air skates respectively. His eyes and the sides of his face were covered with a mask, like binoculars. The creature fell from the sky and landed into the battle zone, awaiting orders from his user.

 ** _Mini Titan Gett_**

 ** _Civilization: Fire_**

 ** _Power: 2000+_**

"And then," she moved her hand back to Braid Claw. "I tap it, to have it break one of your shields."

Braid Claw threw its arms back and charged ahead. CJ watched as the lizard man jumped into the air and launched its armored claw into one of the teal rectangles.

 ** _CJ_**

 ** _Shields: 5-4_**

The card corresponding popped up from the table and CJ caught it. "What now?"

"Broken shields are added to the hand, unless it's a card with the ability known as Shield Trigger, which allows you to use it immediately." Jake said, giving his input.

"The both of us keep going until all five shields are broken. Then all it takes is one direct attack for the game."

"That's pretty simple." CJ nodded.

"Easy to learn, hard to master." Karon said.

"And that's what makes this game so addicting." Dylan said.

CJ drew and set a second card in his mana. "Alright, so I guess since this has a '2' in the corner and I have two mana, I can use it, right?"

Jamie nodded. "As long as you got the mana to bring it out, go for it."

CJ smirked. "Alright then. I summon Burning Mane! How do you like that?"

The green crystals reappeared and joined and formed into a Brown Lion-like humanoid with a sienna-colored mane. When it appeared, it slammed onto the battle zone, swinging a dead tree it brought along. He as well stayed still awaiting orders.

 ** _Burning Mane_**

 ** _Civilization: Nature_**

 ** _Power: 2000_**

"Eh, guess it's okay for your first creature. But don't get too excited. With basic stats like his, he's just evo bait anything."

"Evo…bait?"

"Don't worry about it. Not important right now." Jamie said. "Since you can't do anything with that right now, my move." She drew and set mana. "I now summon, Baby Zoppe."

Three red crystals appeared and joined together to form a robin blue egg. The egg bounced on the ground and sprouted feet, then arms and then a head, revealing the blonde bird with red and green markings around its eyes.

 ** _Baby Zoppe_**

 ** _Civilization: Fire_**

 ** _Power: 2000+_**

"When Baby Zoppe is present in the Battle Zone, as long as all the cards in my mana zone are Fire cards, Zoppe gains a boosted 2000 power."

Zoppe excitedly pranced around, glowing red from the added boost.

 ** _Baby Zoppe_**

 ** _Power: 2000-4000_**

"Great, so that's a thing." CJ said, looking at Mane's 2000 power.

"Oh it's about to get worse. Braid Claw take out another shield!" Jamie tapped her creature and Braid Claw obediently proceeded to repeat his method to break CJ's shield.

 ** _CJ_**

 ** _Shields: 4-3_**

The second card of five popped up into CJ's hand. CJ looked at it for a moment. "You said shields with shield trigger can be used immediately if they're broken right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Just making sure." CJ said. "I use the Shield Trigger Natural Snare! Send Mini Titan Gett to the Mana Zone!"

In place of the shield was instead a black diamond with a lightning bolt in the center. The ground under Gett began to erupt and from underneath vines shot up from the volcanic earth and coiled themselves around him. Despite the struggle, Gett dispersed into green particles. Gett's card popped back into the air, and Jamie reluctantly set it to mana.

"Beginner's luck." Jamie said.

CJ grinned. "Yeah, keep telling yourself that. It's my turn now." CJ drew and set mana. "I summon…Bronze-Arm Tribe. With him , I send the top card of my deck into my mana zone."

A short green-skinned hippo creature resembling a tribesman materialized, armed with a pitchfork and shield. He raised his pitchfork into the air and created a new mana crystal that CJ correspondently added.

 ** _Bronze-Arm Tribe_**

 ** _Civilization: Nature_**

 ** _Power: 1000_**

"And then I attack Braid Claw with Burning Mane. I can do that, right?"

Jamie sighed. "Unfortunately…"

 ** _Burning Mane: 2000_**

 ** _Braid Claw: 1000_**

Burning Mane roared and hugged its tree, charging towards Braid Claw. The creatures briefly went at it, Braid Claw attempting to claw its way at Burning Mane. However Burning Mane pushed back and smashed the lizard creature with the tree, causing it to disperse in red light.

"I end my turn." CJ said with a smile.

"See, told you you'd have fun with this." Jake said.

"Shut up! Wait until I'm done to voice your opinion."

"Oh don't worry, I'm gonna start speeding things up. So, keep up." Jamie said, drawing. She set mana and tapped four of them. I summon Rothus the Traveler.

A brown droid rolled into the field, armed with laser fingers and cannons on its back.

 ** _Rothus, the Traveler_**

 ** _Civilization: Fire_**

 ** _Power: 4000_**

"When Rothus enters the Battle Zone, we each have to choose one of our creatures to destroy."

CJ didn't like the sound of that and looked down at both his creatures. He went for Bronze, as he was the weaker one, but then decided on Burning Mane.

Rothus' infrared eye locked on Burning Mane and unleashed its rockets into the air. Some went for its target, Burning Mane, while some turned back on Rothus, causing both to be destroyed.

"Was worried for a second there." Jamie said removing Rothus. "Baby Zoppe breaks another shield."

The Bird chirped as it furiously flapped its little wings to tap a third shield, causing it to crack and shatter.

 ** _CJ_**

 ** _Shields: 3-2_**

The shield popped up and CJ grabbed it, adding it to his hand. "Why? Obviously I'm gonna destroy Burning Mane. Since he's tapped, had I got rid of Bronze you would've attacked with Zoppe, wouldn't you?"

"Look at that, you're smarter than you look."

"It's called common sense."

"Which is noteworthy for someone of your nature."

CJ gritted his teeth. "You're really annoying you know that?"

"Relax bro, Its just trash talk." Dylan said. "Don't let her psyche you out."

Jamie scoffed. "As if I need to resort to that."

"Alright princess, time to knock you off your high horse. My turn." CJ drew. "Well well, don't you look interesting." He looked down at his mana and back at his hand. "Yeah, I think I can pull this off." He set mana and tapped three. "I summon a second Bronze-Arm Tribe!"

A second Bronze-Arm Tribe materialized alongside the first one. Like before, CJ gained another mana.

"Hate to break it to ya, but unless something big's on its way those two don't pose much of a threat."

"Never said I was done." CJ said, catching her attention. "I evolve the newly summoned Bronze-Arm Tribe into Barkwhip, the Smasher!"

For the first time since the duel began, CJ saw the change in Jamie's face when she heard his words. And it made him glad to see it.

Two mana crystals appeared before Bronze and fused becoming a white spiral-like crystal, with a radiating green aura around it. Bronze grabbed a hold of it and rose into the air, gaining said aura. It eventually enveloped him in light and it started to reform. Once finished, Bronze became an ogre-type creature wielding a giant hammer. It's back extended farther as it supported two more arms handling thorn whips.

 ** _Barkwhip the Smasher_**

 ** _Civilization: Nature_**

 ** _Power: 5000_**

"That big enough for you? Jake, anything important I need to know?"

"Evolution Creatures are immune to summoning sickness as technically it's the same creature in a new body." Jake said.

"In short, let her have it!" Dylan threw his fist up.

"Sounds good! Barkwhip, attack Baby Zoppe! And Bronze-Arm Tribe, Break one of her shields!"

 ** _Barkwhip: 5000_**

 ** _Baby Zoppe: 4000_**

The pair of Beast Folk creatures roared in exclamation and charged ahead. Zoppe, terrified attempts to run, yet Barkwhip lashes one of its whips from the air, grabbing Zoppe and pulling up towards it. Once in striking distance, Barkwhip takes its hammer and smashes the bird, sending it hurdling back towards the earth below. Barkwhip then uses its other whip and grabs Bronze, sending it hurdling into one of Jamie's shields.

 ** _Jamie_**

 ** _Shields: 5-4_**

Jamie takes the broken shield and adds it to her hand. The sight of Barkwhip makes her snicker as she drew her next card and set mana. "Don't get too cocky kid."

"What's that? I can't hear you from all the way down there. How's it feel to be kicked off your pedestal, your highness?"

She tapped six mana and held a card up. "You're about to find out."

CJ thought he was seeing things when he noticed red electricity quickly sparking around her gloved hand. Whether he was seeing things or not, he didn't like where this was going at all.

"Arise from the Flames of Justice! Bolshack Dragon!"

Jamie slammed the card onto the K-Terminal and with a smile on her face, one of the volcanoes on her Battle Zone suddenly erupted, spewing lava all about to the surprise of Barkwhip and Bronze. And out from the fire pillar, a brownish-red colored dragon dressed in a silver breastplate and metallic wings clawed away the wall blocking him from the outside world. Its right claw seemingly made of fire, instilled fear in both the Nature creatures, and in CJ himself.

 ** _Bolshack Dragon_**

 ** _Civilization: Fire_**

 ** _Power: 6000+_**

"Jamie's pissed." Dylan said, seeing her expression.

"No kidding. She only unleashes her trump when she really have to push herself." Jake added.

"Some good you two are." CJ turned around.

"Pretty sure we _didn't_ tell you to get on her bad side."

"Wha—she started it!"

"You're gonna do your turn or what?" Jamie snapped.

CJ turned back towards her. "Yeah yeah, cool off will you?"

"No promises." She said.

CJ rolled his eyes and drew. "I swear it's just a game. I don't know why you're taking this so seriously." He tapped Bronze and then Barkwhip. "I attack with Bronze-Arm Tribe and Barkwhip!"

The tag-team duo went into action charging Jamie's shields. Bronze took town one shield and Barkwhip followed from behind and smashed another.

 ** _Jamie_**

 ** _Shields: 4-2_**

Two cards popped from Jamie's Shield Zone. She added one to her hand and smiled at the sight of the second. "You're not the only one who gets Shield Triggers."

"Oh jeez."

"Shield Trigger: Tornado Flame! With it, I'm allowed to destroy one of your creatures with a power of 4000 or less."

"Think now's a good a time as ever to tell you that Barkwhip gives Bronze-Arm Tribe a boost while Barkwhip is tapped." CJ said proudly.

"Apparently math isn't your strong suit." Jamie said. "Barkwhip's boost is only +2000."

"Only 2000…?" CJ looked down

 ** _Bronze-Arm Tribe_**

 ** _Power: 1000-3000_**

CJ went pale. That meant that Bronze was still a target for the trigger. Painfully he watched as the flaming tornado spiraled out of the volcano and engulfed the small creature in its flames, and then carried the creature to the grave.

Jamie drew and set mana. "I summon Gatling Skyterror!"

Seven crystals materialized and joined together to form an armored lizard creature armed with Gatling guns on its wings and a propeller on its back, resembling an armored chopper gunner.

 ** _Gatling Skyterror_**

 ** _Civilization: Fire_**

 ** _Power: 7000_**

"Bolshack Dragon, attack Barkwhip the Smasher! And just so you really feel my strength, when Bolshack Dragon attacks, he gains +1000 power for each fire card in my Graveyard. If you been paying attention, that's four cards, which means +4000 power!"

 ** _Bolshack Dragon_**

 ** _Power: 6000-10,000_**

Bolshack Dragon's flaming claw ignited and the dragon took to the sky and divebombed into Barkwhip without hesitation, the Evolution Creature having little chance to react to his enemy.

"Don't get comfortable because I'm nowhere _near_ done putting you through a world of hurt."

CJ paused. He looked at the others and back at her. "Are you seriously? It's just a game, why are you getting so upset over it?! Learn to have fun!"

"CJ… you just don't get it." Jake said.

"Care to enlighten me?" CJ turned. With no response, CJ brought his attention back. "I didn't think so." He drew and set mana. "This looks interesting. I cast the spell: Dimension Gate. With it, I search my deck for a creature, show it to you and add it to my hand." With that explanation, CJ took a hold of his deck and skimmed through. He considered what he was up against and once something caught his attention, a plan brewed. "Cool looking creature, and my only hope to have a shot to turn this around. I choose the Evolution Creature, Fighter Dual Fang, and add it to my hand."

"Nice one!" Dylan cheered. "With that you should have no problem taking out her dragon!"

"He needs bait in order to bring him out though."

"I got that covered." He said, setting his deck back and allowing the Terminal to shuffle it. "With my remaining mana, I summon Golden Wing Striker and Burning Mane."

A white-feathered anthromorphic hawk and a second Burning Mane appeared alongside one another, taking notice of their opposition.

 ** _Golden Wing Striker_**

 ** _Civilization: Nature_**

 ** _Power: 2000+_**

"Out of the frying pan." CJ said.

"And into the fire." Jamie added on. She drew and tapped Gatling Skyterror. "Attack Golden Wing Striker!"

"Huh, how can you do that it's not even tapped!"

"Gatling Skyterror can attack untapped creatures. Should've told you but your ego was in the way." Jamie explained.

 ** _Gatling Skyterror: 7000_**

 ** _Golden Wing Striker: 2000_**

Golden Wing took to the skies and darted into the trees out of sight. Skyterror relentlessly fired a barrage of bullets within the treetops, hoping to strike the bird. With no luck, Striker appeared behind Skyterror using its speed. However, it was ultimately blown back by the missiles located underneath its wings.

"Finally, Bolshack Dragon, Double Break!"

Bolshack Dragon roared and followed up Skyterror by swooping in and slashing the last two shields on CJ's side. Bolshack roared at CJ, as if portraying Jamie's anger towards him, before flying back, which unnerved him a bit.

"Next turn you're done." Jamie said.

The last two shields popped up and CJ grabbed them. Looking at both of them a grin traced itself upon his face. "I beg to differ."

"Excuse me?"

"Shield Trigger! I summon Torcon to the Battle Zone!"

To Jamie's shock the newly conceived beastman materialized from the broken shield. It resembled a buff, blue wolf dressed as some sort of tribal priest. It howled as the spectators looked on with peaked interest at the sudden turn of events.

 ** _Torcon_**

 ** _Civilization: Nature_**

 ** _Power: 1000_**

"What did you say before? 'Beginner's luck?'" CJ laughed. He drew and looked over to Jake. "Alright I admit. This is fun. I take back everything I said."

"Everything?"

"Okay not everything. But it's a start I can say honestly. Now then where was I? Oh yeah, that catchphrase you said earlier. Gotta say it had me thinking if I came across something in this deck that looked like a trump card then I should come up with one of my own. So I guess without further ado: Roar the Savage Hero: Fighter Dual Fang!"

Torcon looked above and saw the six crystals materialize and form into the special Evo Crystal. Torcon leapt into the air and grabbed a hold of it and began to transform from the power. Fighter Dual Fang was the form of a giant black anthromorphic cat with red markings on it's body, having great big silver horns that curved from his forehead back. It too had two extra arms as it carried a giant golden bladed sword. It front paws held a shield-like claw, which also held Fighter Dual Fang's Evo Crystal which was glowing green, rather than white.

 ** _Fighter Dual Fang_**

 ** _Civilization: Nature_**

 ** _Power: 8000_**

"When Fighter Dual Fang hit's the Battle Zone, I gain two extra mana." CJ pointed out as he set the top two cards in mana. "And with that said, I think I'm gonna evolve Burning Mane into Barkwhip as well. You know, just in case your Shield Zone has plans to spring another Tornado on me."

Jamie bit her lip as she watched Burning Mane transform into Barkwhip.

"Even you have them…" Jamie muttered.

"Fighter Dual Fang, let's show her what we're made of! Double Break her last two shields!"

Fighter Dual Fang roared and charged ahead, swinging his sword about and coming down on the last two shields that shattered.

 ** _Jamie_**

 ** _Shields: 2-0_**

Dual Fang then stepped aside as Barkwhip flew in, hammer raised over its head.

"Barkwhip, Direct Attack!"

Barkwhip landed and unleashed the might of his hammer, cracking the volcanic field and completely shattering it into holographic data. The four creatures disappeared from the terminal afterward, everything fading away.

 **"** **GAME OVER: WINNER: CHRISTOPHER-JAMES HENDERSON!"**

CJ blinked and looked down at the K-Terminal which flashed "Winner" on his Shield Zone as he collected the cards. It was over. He played his first game of Duel Masters…

And he loved it.

"See, I told you I'd get you to start playing!" Jake came from behind.

"Yeah I gotta admit. This game's…wow. This technology really makes this game more amazing than it should be."

"Yeah well that's what happens when DCA's branch office is here in the city. We get all the cool toys first." Dylan said.

"More importantly," Karon started to say, "You surprised us all."

"Well like you guys said, the game is simple to learn. And this deck is pretty basic, I mean, once you get the hang of things its really no sweat. Although I gotta say, these Evolution Creatures are _sick_! Really get you out of a pinch when you—hey!" Jamie bumped into him as she walked back to the elevator.

"Everything okay Jamie?" Jake walked up to her.

"I'm fine." She said, not looking up. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

The elevator opened and she walked inside it. The elevator made its descent and once she felt she was a safe distance she banged the side of the wall.

"Why? Why does he have them?" She hissed. "Why does my deck not have Evolution Creatures? Why don't _you_ evolve…?" A tear left her eye.

"Why can't you…?"

* * *

"I'm home!" CJ returned late that night, in a surprisingly good mood to his parents surprise.

"Where have you been?!" Catharine asked her son surprised to finally see him. "It's almost 10PM!"

"Is it?" CJ looked over. "Sorry, I was with Jake all afternoon. Turns out he ended up getting me hooked on this game and, I don't know what to say, for a children's card game it's _really_ intense."

"What's also intense is my rage if you don't get your butt to bed!" She pointed to his room and knowing his Mother's personality he scurried to his room without putting up a fight.

Not that he would, at this point, between being out all day and the remaining jetlag, he was wiped.

CJ set his belongings on his desk and changed his clothes, finding some pajamas to throw on. He set the deck case next to his light, still enthused by his initial win. "My mom did tell me to look at this move as a new adventure. I wonder if you're going to be involved in that, Dual Fang." He turned the light off and rolled over, getting comfortable in his bed.

 _"That my new friend, is entirely up to you…"_

CJ's eyes sprang open and he jumped up, quickly reaching for the lamp.

"Whose there?!" he looked around his room and he realized he was the only one in the room. But he swore he heard a voice. He laid back, but kept his light on, to be absolutely sure there wasn't anyone in the room. Eventually he drifted off to sleep.

The mysterious voice laughed. _"Good Night, Savage Hero. May our adventure resume in the morning…"_

* * *

The next morning CJ got his uniform on and before walking out the room he stopped and looked at the deck case he left on his nightstand. Thinking back to the others with their cases, he grabbed it and hooked it onto his belt, grinning like a little kid on Christmas by the sight. The green accents on it blended very well and it excited him.

"Morning parents!" CJ said, taking note of his mother and father. Catharine seemed to be more calm than before and Nate was in the middle of sipping his coffee before answering.

"Heard Jake finally made you cave." Nate joked. "So, how is it?"

"Surprisingly fun. Even more so with the tech here. It's like the VR equipment for the entertainment aspect's been cranked to eleven. The stuff they have out here is beyond anything I'd ever imagine. Look, I even got this cool deck case that surprisingly matches my uniform."

Nate took a glance at the deck case and had to keep his composure. "That's-uh really cool."

"You okay dad?"

"Yeah, I'm great." He looked at his watch. "Oh man, I'm gonna be late." Nate grabbed his jacket off the chair, kissed his wife and took his leave all in the span of thirty seconds.

"He's…acting weird." CJ said, turning to his mom.

"You're guess is as good as mine." Cathartine said. "But in either case, you need to get going to before you miss your train."

"Ah, yeah you're right." CJ hooked his case back onto his belt and got up. "I'll grab breakfast on the way."

"Alright, have a good day at school." Cathartine said, waving him off. Once CJ was out the door, Catharine's expression became more serious. "This may pose a problem…"

CJ pressed the button on the Elevator and began to slide his earbuds into his ears. Once the door opened, he motioned to press play on his MP3 but stopped at the sight of the person on the other side.

"Creep." Jamie snarled at him.

"Sore loser." CJ shot back.


	2. The Price Of Power

Chapter 2: The Price For Power

Isolated in the dark room, with his fingers skidding across the keyboard, the blonde-haired boy's eyes stayed locked on the screen before him. Data and pop-up windows transitioning back and forth, his latest finding capturing his attention for what seemed like weeks at this point. The secrets within this 'Project Neo' were so profound that if they were to leak out it would ruin the DCA and everything associated with it.

Yet, as much as he would want nothing more, he was under oath from his benefactor. His revenge would have to wait.

A call alerted the boy and his fingers instantly stopped mid-typing. He reached for the phone and clicked the button, a holographic screen coming to life from the camera. On the other side was nothing but a default gray icon with the words "voice only" as the caption.

"Luke here." The boy known as Luke spoke first.

" _What's your status in terms of breaking into the program?"_

"I've been long done. Spent the rest the time exploring what other hidden secrets the DCA has if I ever get the opportunity to exploit them" Luke said, resting the phone on the desk to allow himself to continue typing.

" _Excellent to hear. As I mentioned before phase 2 is now being put into action."_

"And what does that entail exactly?"

The screen switched over and revealed an image of Jamie. Luke looked over and shrugged. "Kinda cute. Why is she important?"

" _You may not recognize her, but she is the younger sister of a famous Kaijudo Master."_

Luke stopped typing. "Okay I'm listening."

" _That being said, she managed to sync with the creature within the deck. I need her and the creature as they are essential to the purpose of Project Neo."_

"I think I see where this is going. Alright, I'm on it." Luke grinned.

" _If anyone, especially the other holders of the decks attempt to interfere, I expect you to stop them."_

"Don't worry about that, I have friends too." Luke said. "I'll contact you when things are in order." With that Luke hung up and stood. He grabbed his jacket and a bookbag that sat next to the desktop he was stationed at. "Well well, looks like I'm getting my wish after all." He said with a grin.

"Time to go catch my prey."

* * *

"Jake, where are you dragging me to now?" CJ asked as he attempted to free his arm from his friend's grasp. "All I said was I heard a voice last night, why is it that serious," he ripped his arm free finally, "That you had to drag me up to the roof like this?"

"Because, chances are no one would suspect us up here." Jake said. "Plus the view helps me to think."

"That doesn't explain…" CJ's thought trailed as the pair walked through the door leading to the roof. Outside was Dylan, Karon and Jamie, all awaiting them. Jamie's eyes met CJ and the pair exchanged death glares at one another.

"Thanks for meeting me up here you guys." Jake said, taking note of the trio.

"Like we had a choice." Karon said. "You're positive you heard something?"

"Uh…" Karon's brooding stare made CJ nervous, almost making him not want to confirm that.

"It had to or else we wouldn't be up here." Jamie confirmed for him.

"I can speak for myself, thanks." CJ told her. "Look, I'm pretty sure I just imagined things. Just the excitement from the game, got the better of me is all. Now, can we go back before lunch ends?"

"Not until we confirm that you heard it." Jake reaffirmed.

"Heard _what?_ " CJ demanded.

" _My voice!"_ a new voice roared in CJ's ears. He froze and scanned everyone, who continued to give him blank stares.

"Please tell me you heard that!"

"Okay, so it's official. They're synced." Dylan snapped his fingers.

" _They're_? Me and who else?!" CJ demanded. Just then a green light began to shine under his uniform jacket. He lifted the side and saw his case shimmering. "What in the…?" he opened his case and pulled out his deck, the Fighter Dual Fang card on the front being the source of the green light.

"Before you freak out," Jake began.

"Little late for that!"

"Let me explain." Jake said, staying calm.

"Jake, be honest. What the hell did you get me into?!"

"I can explain. Now that you are synced with him, it makes things a whole lot easier."

"Just enlighten me already!"

"Alright alright. Tsume, do you mind?"

The card ceased its glowing, further freaking CJ out.

"Everyone," Jake said, taking his deck out. Jamie, Dylan and Karon all followed and held their respected trump cards out. And with a flick of their wrists they tossed the cards into the air and in a red, blue, purple and yellow light, each of them began to glow and take shape.

The blue light landed in Dylan's palm and turned into a pale blue centaur, armed with a sword and a shield resembling a hive, which shimmered in a rainbow of colors. The purple light landed in front of Karon and reformed into a blue-skinned, winged beastman armed with bones on its armed and chest, that somewhat resembled a mythical goat. Above Jake the yellow light went which formed a gold and sapphire-colored robot creature with pure white wings extending from its back that patiently hovered above him. And the Bolshack Dragon appeared from the red light, resting on Jamie's shoulder.

"What the what?! How did you all do that?!"

" _We_ didn't do anything. They did." Dylan said.

"Oh don't give me that!"

"It's true CJ." Jake said. "These creatures, they're alive. And they need our help."

That did it for CJ. He began to laugh hysterically, not believing any of it for a moment. unbeknownst to him during his outburst, his deck slipped out of his hand and the Fighter Dual Fang card immediately turned green shot into the air, knocking CJ in his head, and sending him on his butt.

Jamie was the first to grin at the sight.

CJ immediately tried to piece together what happened and the sight of the cat man looking back at him made him jump back.

"Relax kid, I couldn't hurt you even if I wanted to." The Fighter Dual Fang said. "Besides, if you die, then there goes my chances."

"I'm sorry…what?!"

"Like I said, they need our help." Jake said, as if it was obvious.

"Jake…again. What…the… _hell_?!"

"Might as well stay sitting, because this'll be a lot to process." Dylan said plopping onto the ground. Karon, Jamie and Jake followed and with no other option, CJ straightened himself and grabbed the remains of his deck.

"Short version, these five creatures as they explained to us before, are not from this world."

"Yeah no kidding."

"They're actually from a parallel Earth. Something that we simply call the 'Creature World.'"

"And you lost me."

"For whatever reason, something happened in that world that these five have been captured and brought here. They have no memories of what happened, all they know is that they found themselves locked in these deck cases."

"…right."

"That's why we all been so invested in this game." Jake said. "Because we all think the DCA has something to do with these five being captured."

"What makes you so sure of that?" CJ asked.

"Because of the simple fact that these deck cases aren't slated to hit the market until next year." Dylan pointed out, waving his hand in the air to voice his opinion. "These decks are modified to interact with the upcoming D-VYZR headsets in order to enable the game to take on AR dueling."

"So…the five of us have prototype equipment from the DCA which just so happened to hold captive five creatures from another world for reasons unknown. That about right?"

"That's the gist of it, yeah." Karon crossed his arms. "Someone dropped these off a few weeks back at my store without warning and after several days each of us came into contact with our Deck Avatars."

"Before that the five of us didn't talk to one another. Well, except Jamie and I, but that's because we've been friends since Jr. High." Jake mentioned.

"Because of this connection, we decided to form a team amongst ourselves, so we can help the creatures." Jamie added. "Find out what the DCA's hiding from the public."

"A team huh? What's the name?"

"That's… an excellent question." Dylan said.

"So guess that's a no then?"

"We got jack squat in department." Dylan confirmed.

"Also guess it's safe to say that you all have made no progress in terms of finding any clues, am I right?"

"Well first I had to convince you to start playing." Jake said. "Before we did anything, Tsume needed someone whose could sync with him."

"And what do you mean by that?"

"He means, that we match." Tsume said, drawing CJ's attention. "Our respected K-Waves are similar enough to form a bond to one another across planes."

"K…Waves? Okay, you all need to give me a second to process this."

Just as he said that the bell rung, making CJ sulk. "And there goes lunch…"

"If you just shut up and listen we would've been done sooner." Jamie said, grabbing her bag.

"Oh get a life already you hater. So you lost one match, stop crying and get over it!"

Jamie looked up. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Ever since we met yesterday you've been on my case, what the heck is it gonna take for you to leave me be?"

"Alright listen you punk, you got lucky alright? Had it not have been for your stupid evolution creatures you wouldn't have stood a chance against me!"

"Wow, real mature. For someone who thinks so highly of yourself, it's pretty childish to resort to excuses like that don't you think?"

"Why you little-!"

"Alright break it up!" Jake got in between them. "Both of you, to class, _now_!"

Jamie scoffed. "Screw that. Knowing that I have to spend the rest of the day here with him around is enough to make me vomit."

"Jake, I've been asking this question a lot but dude, _explain_ to me what I did to get on her bad side?"

"You're taking his side? Really?" Jamie snapped.

"I didn't say anything!" Jake shot back. "And on that note, seriously, what's gotten into you?"

"What does it matter? If you all are that dense then there's no use explaining myself." Jamie snarled she stormed off, having Jake sigh before running off. "I'll deal with you later."

"But I didn't…ugh my god what is up with that girl?"

"It's her trump card." Karon said as the trio began to head back downstairs.

"What do you mean by that?" CJ asked.

The Deck Avatars by this point returned to their card forms and with this fact in mind Karon and Dylan revealed them.

"Crystal Paladin…Ballom, Master of Death…?" CJ read the names of the cards. "I still feel like I'm missing something."

"They're both Evolution Creatures." Dylan said, catching CJ's attention.

"And Jake's…"

Karon nodded. "His Alcadeias, Lord of Spirits, is also an Evolution Creature. We each have them, except for Jamie."

"Why is that?"

"We don't know. And after yesterday, we're sure that seeing your deck in action, and her seeing you have them as well, probably set her off."

CJ thought for a moment, and realized the tonal shift from the moment he first summoned Barkwhip during his duel. It was at that point that Jamie went from demonstrating how the game worked, to becoming more aggressive.

"Ha, well, go figure." CJ said, finding a hint of guilt in his voice.

"Don't beat yourself up about it bro. If anything, Jake knows her better than anyone, he can talk some sense into her and be back to class before anyone notices." Dylan reassured.

"Yeah, hope you're right about that." CJ nodded.

* * *

"Jamie wait up will you?!" Jake's voice called out behind her, but alas it fell on deaf ears. Jamie instead quickened her pace, forcing Jake to find himself getting farther from the school. The thought of his parents getting on his case for cutting class was not a discussion he was looking forward to so his intent was to get Jamie and get back to class before anyone noticed.

However Jamie was not making it easy for him.

After several times of hearing his voice, Jamie stopped and turned back. "Jake just go back. I wanna be alone for a while."

Jake finally caught up and found himself out of breath, the lack of football training showing. "You and I both know that's not happening."

"Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

"Because we're friends." Jake answered. "Or is that not obvious?"

Jamie couldn't argue with him on that point.

"So as a friend, and co-leader, I appreciate it if you tell me what's going on." Jake said.

Realizing that her defiance would end in failure, Jamie conceded and took a seat on the bench. Jake followed her and Jamie began to explain herself.

"It's…"

"It's the fact that we all have Evolution creatures, isn't it?"

"How can I be a leader when my team is more powerful than I am?" Jamie asked. "I mean, a team is only as good as their weakest link right? So how much am I holding us back?"

"Oh come on, you're not holding us back. Blaze is just right where she needs to be."

"But even she thinks so. Tenshi, Kage and even Lancer. And now even him. They're all Evos. They all have the ability to take their powers to the next level. Why? Why is it that you all managed to sync with Evolution Creatures and I didn't?"

"Well…" Jake sighed. "I don't know the answer to that. But what I do know is that you're powerful on your own. Blaze doesn't need to evolve to have the abilities she already has. She already can hold her own against anything that comes in her way. So I wouldn't worry much about it."

Jamie looked down at her feet. "I guess you're right. But still… what we wouldn't give to have a taste of that…"

"Excuse me…" A voice interrupted their moment. The teens looked up and saw a blonde-haired boy approach them. His crystal blue eyes immediately got Jake on the defensive. "I couldn't help but overhear your predicament. I think I may be able to help with your request."

"Yeah, we're not interested." Jake stood up. "Come on Jay, we gotta get back."

"Wilson, isn't it?" Luke called out, making Jake stop.

"How do you know my last name?"

Luke smirked. He dropped his bag and opened it, reaching into it. "Catch." He tossed an object towards him and Jake caught it.

"A headset?" Jake said, examine the two bluetooh devices. He turned it on its side and realized the Duel Masters' logo was branded on it.

Luke set his on and tapped the side of it twice. "K-VYZR: On!" A shimmering effect traced around Luke's head and faded away while he strapped his K-Grip on.

"If I were you I'd make use of those."

Jake and Jamie looked at one another and did like he did. "K-VYZR: On!"

The same effects happened to them and to their surprise the scenery around them shifted. Before the both of them what seemed like duel tables materialized before them, alongside their respected areas. Luke was surrounded by water and crashing waves that ended midway in between them. Jake was so astounded by the sight that it took Jamie to point out to him the clouds beneath their feet.

"Thought you of all people should get a taste of what the brainiacs at the DCA are working on." Luke told them.

"But…these shouldn't be out for some time, how did you managed to—!" Jake stopped and looked at his deck case.

"Figured it out did you?"

"What do you get out of this?" Jake got serious.

"In one word: Revenge." Luke said, humored by his expression. "Now," he took out his deck and set it onto the table. "Shall we get started?"

Jake gritted his teeth and slapped the side of his deck case, it popping open and him retrieving his deck. "Let's do this Tenshi."

Luke shuffled his deck and set his five shields, and as he did so, five teal-colored shields materialized surrounding his space. Jake did the same and the same effect took place.

"Whoa… it's… so real…" Jamie said, astonished at the sight.

"Augmented Reality." Luke said. "DCA's been holding onto this tech for years now."

"Which makes me wonder how someone like you got their hands on it." Jake said, not losing his tone.

"How about this? You win and I'll come clean about what I'm really after?"

"And if you win?"

"Well isn't it obvious?" He turned his attention to Jamie.

"No deal." Jake quickly snapped.

"You have no idea how little your opinion matters kid. But you'll figure that out soon enough. Ready?"

"To kick your butt? Just say the word."

"Expected as much. Alright then…"

"DUEL START!"

"I'll start things off." Jake said, setting a yellow card into his Mana Zone. "I tap Light mana and summon La Ura Giga, Sky Guardian!"

As Jamie focused on Jake's opening move, she felt air stir around her suddenly. She turned back and flying towards her was a small white airship with five golden-tipped wings. It took her a moment to process the realization that the creature was life-sized, standing—or in this case—hovering before her.

 _ **La Ura Giga, Sky Guardian**_

 _ **Civilization: Light**_

 _ **Power: 2000**_

"Jake are you seeing this?" Jamie turned back.

"I end my turn." Jake said, seemingly ignoring her words.

Luke drew and set mana. "I guess I'll do the same. I summon Marine Flower and end."

A blue crystal materialized next to Luke and shattered, reforming into a small blue cybernetic-like coral creature.

 _ **Marine Flower**_

 _ **Civilization: Water**_

 _ **Power: 2000**_

Jake drew and set mana. "I end my turn."

"Would it kill you to crack a smile?" Luke asked him as he drew.

"Not until I get answers." Jake answered fiercely.

Luke chuckled and set mana. "Then you better hope you manage to beat me then. Because I'm not making this easy on you. I summon Emeral."

A small blue creature sitting on a hover disc materialized in front of Luke's Shield Zone. Around it were purple-tinted screens filled with constant flowing information all coming from its golden crown.

 _ **Emeral**_

 _ **Civilization: Water**_

 _ **Power: 1000**_

"Emeral allows me to add one card from my hand to my Shield Zone, then add a card from my Shield Zone to my hand. Only catch is I can't activate a Shield Trigger."

"But you can sure as heck plant one, right?"

"Or make you think I am. Nonetheless, it's amusing to psyche you out."

Emeral turned back and added one of it's purple screens to the shields, retrieving another shield and adding it to his collection, said shield changing to purple.

Jake snickered and drew. He set mana and tapped all three. "I summon Reso Pacos, Clear Sky Guardian."

A jade green Guardian creature swooped in from above and hovered alongside La Ura Giga.

 _ **Reso Pacos, Clear Sky Guardian**_

 _ **Civilization: Light**_

 _ **Power: 3000**_

Luke drew and set mana. "I summon King Coral."

A grey whale-like creature materialized and cried out, it's shadow casting over the cyber-based creatures around it from its size.

 _ **King Coral**_

 _ **Civilization: Water**_

 _ **Power: 1000**_

"And as much as I wanna get the ball rolling, I'm gonna hold back on my attack." Luke said, ending.

Jake drew and set mana. "Just because you are, doesn't mean I am. I summon Dia Nork, Moonlight Guardian!"

A green colored airship with a yellow propeller on it's tail generating electricity all over it's body materialized alongside the other Guardians.

 _ **Dia Nork, Moonlight Guardian**_

 _ **Civilization: Light**_

 _ **Power: 5000**_

"I attack with Reso; Break his shield!" Jake tapped the card and the slim jade-colored Guardian took to flight charging ahead.

"Whoa there. Marine Flower Block!" Luke countered and tapped Marine Flower.

 _ **Reso Pacos: 3000**_

 _ **Marine Flower: 2000**_

Marine Flower zipped in front of Reso's target and the Guardian rammed into the small creature before diverting back to its starting position.

"I end…" Jake said, hinting at disappointment.

"For someone who uses Guardians, you should know better."

"Shut up."

"Just saying." Luke shrugged. "In any case, let's get continue." He drew and set mana. "I cast Brain Serum and draw two cards. That's all I have planned." Luke drew the two new cards and added them to his hand.

"Still not attacking?"

"You forget you have a 5000-powered blocker on your side. You honestly think I'm that dumb?" Luke asked him.

"The fact that you're sitting idly by speaks for itself. Can't win if you don't make a move." Jake drew and set mana.

"Oh don't you worry. I already know how the next few turns will play out." Luke said reassuringly.

"We'll see. I summon Aeris, Flight Elemental!" Jake set the creature into the Battle Zone.

A giant golden battleship, shaped like a circle with spirals covering it, materialized behind the three Guardians.

 _ **Aeris, Flight Elemental**_

 _ **Civilization: Light**_

 _ **Power: 9000**_

"A Skyforce Command huh…?" Luke grinned. "Can't have you around, now can we?"

"If I were you I'd be afraid. Reso, second time around, break his shield!"

Reso acknowledged the command and took to the skies, soaring back down to break one of Luke's shields.

 _ **Luke**_

 _ **Shields: 5-4**_

The shards flew past Luke and he held his hand up. "Shield Trigger…" The shards recollected back to his hand and he revealed the card. "Spiral Gate. I bounce Aeris back to your hand!"

Jake felt the moment catch him off guard, the waves on Luke's side rocking violently and crossing over to Aeris blowing it to specs of light.

The card bounced back into Jake's hand and the latter caught it. "Just prolonging the inevitable."

"Am I now?" Luke chuckled. "Must say I find it funny you believe you have a chance."

"Just do your turn." Jake snapped.

"Alright, alright." Luke drew and set mana. "I summon Illusionary Merfolk. With this little thing, because I have a Cyber Lord in the form of Emeral here, I'm allowed to draw three cards."

An orange fish-like creature with a blood-red eye materialized in the Battle Zone alongside Emeral.

 _ **Illusionary Merfolk**_

 _ **Civilization: Water**_

 _ **Power: 4000**_

Emeral snapped his fingers and three new screens materialized on his saucer, vanishing almost immediately to signify Luke's extra draw.

"And… I'll think I'll end it here."

Jake, becoming frustrated snapped again, "Why won't you attack?!"

"Well he did say you're defenses are too strong for him to break through before." Jamie noted.

"No, he's doing this on purpose. Just what do you want with me, with _us_?"

"Now is that any way to talk to the person who personally delivered those trinkets you wear so proudly on your person?"

The realization of their words earlier struck Jamie. She looked down at her deck and back at Luke.

"Looks like you finally bought a clue, sweetheart." Luke said.

"Don't talk to her!" Jake growled as he drew and set mana. "Aeris I call you back!"

Before Jamie could speak, Aeris once again materialized.

"And why not?"

"Because whatever you have to tell her is nothing she needs to hear!"

"Even if it concerns the power she seeks?"

"Even if it does! I won't let you anywhere near her!"

Luke drew and set mana as he listened to Jake's words and couldn't contain himself, bursting into hysterical laughter. "That right… Well just know this, White Knight…" suddenly Luke's tone shifted and he became serious. "Those blockers you have may stop my creatures, but it's not stopping me. I summon a second Marine Flower, and Corile."

Jake froze as he watched the small coral creature and the purple alien-like creature materialize together.

 _ **Corile**_

 _ **Civilization: Water**_

 _ **Power: 2000**_

Corile locked sights on Aeris and waved one of it's limbs. A bubble rose from the water and darted towards Aeris, capturing it and vanishing afterward. Jake looked down and watched as his creature bounced from the Battle Zone and onto his deck.

Jake drew and set Aeris to mana, thinking of how pointless it would be to send it out once more. "I end my turn."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "What? Don't tell me you lost you're determination already? Jeez, you are so boring of an opponent." He drew and set mana. "Well, since you wanted me to go on the offensive, so bad, I guess I'll have to. Maybe it'll get you to smile." Luke grinned. "Ride like the surging wave: Legendary Bynor!"

He tapped six and slammed the card on top of King Coral. The waves rocked violently around Luke and the clouds darkened on Jake's side. The teens didn't like one bit where things were heading and that's when they heard the eerie cry.

"Jake!" Jamie pointed upward and Jake looked up and was astonished by the sight of the _flying_ Whale that hovered over them.

The navy blue whale with wings sprouted on its sides took King Coral's spot, hovering in a menacing, impulsive manner. Luke's expression never left his face, enjoying every moment of Jake's increasing despair.

 _ **Legendary Bynor**_

 _ **Civilization: Water**_

 _ **Power: 8000**_

Jake shook it off. He reminded himself of the two blockers he had and the others that were in his hand and deck. Guardians were known for being overall defensive, marking Light as the pinnacle of defense in the game. All he had to do was ride this attack out and then devise a way to deal with Legendary Bynor.

"Emeral, Break his shield…" Luke tapped.

"La Ura Giga—!" Before Jake could finish, his shield shattered.

 _ **Jake**_

 _ **Shields: 5-4**_

"What the? Why couldn't I?"

"Legendary Bynor's ability: My other Water Creatures in the Battle Zone become unblockable as long as he resides."

The realization kicked Jake's despair back into gear as Corile made its trip to break his shields.

 _ **Jake**_

 _ **Shields: 4-3**_

Jake snapped back to reality at the reveal of the second shield. "Shield Trigger!" The shield returned to his hand and he revealed it. "Holy Awe! I tap the rest of your creatures!"

Lightning snapped to life around Jake's field as a giant orb from above descended and fired a beam of light, capturing all of Luke's creatures and paralyzing them.

Luke ended, satisfied with his turn.

Jake knew if there was ever a time to make a comeback, now was it. He drew and sets mana. "I summon Gran Gure, Space Guardian!"

A brown airship materialized into the Battle Zone, joining its fellow Guardians.

 _ **Grand Gure, Space Guardian**_

 _ **Civilization: Light**_

 _ **Power: 9000**_

"You said it yourself, Bynor only lets your _other_ Water Creatures get around my blockers, but that speaks nothing about Bynor himself. And speaking of which, its time to unleash my counterattack." Jake threw his hand out. "My fleet is ready to blow you out of the skies!"

The Guardians able to attack locked their sights on their targets.

"La Ura Giga, attacks Emeral! Reso Pacos attacks Marine Flower! Dia Nork, attacks Corile!"

 _ **La Ura Giga: 2000**_

 _ **Emeral: 1000**_

 _ **Reso Pacos: 3000**_

 _ **Marine Flower: 2000**_

 _ **Dia Nork: 5000**_

 _ **Corile: 2000**_

The creatures went into battle almost immediately, however with the effects of Holy Awe paralyzing them, the cyber creatures were no match for the Guardians who made quick of them, leaving Legendary Bynor alone in the Battle Zone.

"If you try to attack, Bynor's getting blown out the sky as well." Jake made a note.

"And there you go again." Luke sighed. "Forget already? Your blocker's aren't going to stop me."

"Grand Gure says otherwise." Jake restated.

Luke drew and set mana. "I summon Corile. Send Grand Gure back to the top of the deck."

Jake froze as his one option to slow down the massive creature was halted by the purple alien.

"Guess you also need to be reminded of what I said earlier: I already know how these next few turns are going to play out."

"And what make you think you know that?!"

"Because you are so predictable it makes me sick. Your damsel behind you is hiding behind a wall of defenders with you at her beckoning call. Logically if I want to get to her I need to slip my way through. And now that your strongest shield is nowhere in sight…Double Break." Luke tapped Legendary Bynor and the massive whale cried out once more and summoned a wave that smashed two more shields.

 _ **Jake**_

 _ **Shields: 3-1**_

Jake collected his cards and was not pleased at the sight. Nothing that would help him.

With that he drew and re-summoned Grand Gure, hoping that this would buy him a turn. With only Corile and Bynor, he would have to deal with Corile's attack, but Bynor would be able to be blocked. Then following he could develop another retaliation move.

"Summon Grand Gure in an attempt to buy yourself a turn?" Luke asked, seeming to read Jake's mind. "Like I said, predictable. Which is why I came prepared." He drew and set mana. "I summon King Coral and then evolve him into Legendary Bynor."

Jake went pale as the second Whale materialized. "That means…"

"That they're both unblockable, you guessed it. "Now then… Corile, Break his shield."

Corile zoomed past the blockers and broke the final shield. It flashed before Jake, but so lost in the realization, he ignored it.

Even the likes of Holy Awe wouldn't stop Luke.

 _ **Jake**_

 _ **Shields: 1-0**_

"Legendary Bynor: Direct Attack!"

Legendary Bynor acknowledged the request and charged ahead, opening its mouth to swallow Jake.

Still awestruck, he toppled over to his side, being pushed away from the beast's jaws. As he fell, he looked as Jamie had her arms stretched forward, furthering his shock.

Bynor rammed Jake's table and Jamie, the teen's horrified expression etched into his face. He ripped the headset off his face and looked again, remembering that none of it was real.

But then he realized that Jamie was missing. Frantically he stumbled back onto his feet and looked around, beginning to call her name.

And then an innocent whistle came from above. Jake looked up and the sight of that beast hovering in the air quickly caught his attention, and the people around who were just as equally freaked out.

"Jamie!"

Luke held the unconscious girl in his arms, bridal style. "Even though you lost, I figure this is a good time as ever to tell you who I am."

Jake growled, his hand sparking with Yellow Electricity. "Tenshi… I need you."

" _Calm down. He's already provoked you enough. With all these people you can't afford to start a fight you can't win"_

"Luke… Luke Collins…"

The name instantly calmed Jake down, as if he had an epiphany. "Collins…? You're…!"

"Send a message to your pops will ya? Tell him, family first…"

Bynor began to rise and without thinking Jake snagged a card from his deck and threw it into the sky, Dia Nork materializing from it. He jumped onto the creature and attempted to catch up with Luke, but as if he saw it coming, Luke turned back and Bynor caught Dia Nork with its jaws.

"Wrong way…" his grin became crooked and mercilessly he kicked Jake off Dia Nork and the boy fell, watching Dia Nork vanish.

And as he fell, he allowed his eyes to shut as he silently allowed his anger and sadness swallow him…


	3. Family Matters

Chapter 3: Family Matters

Nate paced back and forth and Robert kept his head leaned forward, lost in thought. The fathers sat outside the emergency room where Jake was taken. Nate was furious beyond relief and Robert on the other hand tried to keep calm. However, Nate's constant pacing was a distraction.

"Do you mind?" Robert asked, not looking up.

Nate stopped and turned back. "You son of a—!" Nate grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him up. Robert quickly detached himself with one arm.

"Watch who you grab like that! I'm still your superior." Robert snapped.

"Don't give me that right now!" Nate snarled. "What were you thinking?! He's just a kid, what made you think it would be a good idea to put that kind of burden on him?!"

"Don't tell me how to raise my son! If anything you're as deep in this mess as I am!"

"How so?!"

"When were you going to tell me that Chris had one of the decks?"

Nate stopped, realizing that fact.

"Sit down." Robert ordered him, taking a seat.

Nate reluctantly sat alongside him. Robert sighed and ran his hand down his face to regain his composure. It took a moment to collect his thoughts but he finally spoke.

"Six years ago. Something happened in the Creature World. I wasn't told much except that I had to relocate here to NYC on Roman's request. So my family and I came."

"And you decided to reveal everything to Jake?"

"I had no choice. With the situation being as it was he was bound to find out one way or another."

"Okay then, so what did you find out that was so important?"

"Jonah was still alive."

Nate froze. He turned to Robert and saw the seriousness on his face. "What do you mean he was still alive?! Where is he now?!"

"I don't know. And quite frankly it doesn't matter right this moment."

"Like hell it doesn't matter!" Nate shot back up. "He was our friend! _You_ left him out there in that god-forsaken place!"

"You're telling me you wouldn't have done the same? After what he did to those creatures?!" Robert shot back up.

"I would've brought him back instead of leaving him for dead in that place! Gah, it's mind-blowing that we still have access after what we did. Those poor creatures and those twisted experiments he did to them…"

"Despite that, our main concern are the other three decks. We know that two of them are in possession of Chris and Jake. The other three remain to be missing, along with Project Neo."

"Project…Neo?" Nate looked at him. "The program… you knew about it and you didn't tell me, are you serious?!"

"Like I said, watch your tone." Robert shot back.

That set Nate off and once again he grabbed Robert by the collar and shoved him into the wall.

"Dad!" CJ's voice echoed in the hall, hitting the man's senses and causing him to relax.

"Dad what are you doing?!" CJ and his friends broke them apart.

Nate stepped back and took a deep sigh while Robert straightened his clothes. "I honestly don't know anymore."

"What does that mean…?"

"Um…is Jake going to be alright?" Dylan asked.

"Yes, he's just resting." Robert reassured. "He took a really bad fall and been knocked out for a while."

"Where's Jamie at a time like this?" Karon looked around, seeing no sight of the girl.

"What does it matter? It's her fault that he's like this. Had she not overreact over this stupid game." CJ said.

"Whoa dude, isn't that a bit harsh to blame her for this?"

"I'm not wrong, am I?" CJ snapped at him. "My best friend nearly died because of her! To make it worse she's not even around. Good riddance for all I care."

"Hey!" Nate grabbed CJ but CJ shrugged him off. "Whatever happened, it's no one's fault. Jake just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, that's all."

"That's real easy for you to say. It's not your best friend in there." CJ pointed to the room where Jake peacefully laid.

"Excuse me?" Nate raised an eyebrow. "You have some—" Nate stopped talking once he noticed the small headset next to Jake's deck case vibrate. The group walked into the room with Nate picking it up. he tapped the button and a voice began to speak on the other end.

 _"It's been a while, hasn't it, Robert Wilson?"_

"Who is this?" Nate asked.

 _"You probably don't remember me because I was really young when we first met, but I assure you I heard quite a bit about you growing up. After all, you were the one who killed my father."_

Robert grew cold.

The holder of the voice laughed. _"By your hesitation, I'm assuming you remember who I am? Well just in case, let me remind you of the message I left your son…_

 _"Family first."_

At that point Robert snatched the headset from Nate. "What do you want?"

 _"To see the DCA fall and the ones who sentenced my father to death a fitting judgement. What I did to Jake is a foregleam of what's to come upon everyone you hold dear. Hope his friends enjoy the decks I delivered to them. Because they're gonna need them if they are to survive."_

"Survive…?" that single word shook CJ. He looked to Dylan and Karon and instead of being afraid, their expressions only got more focused and determined.

 _"Oh and speaking of, if you're wondering where the girl is, don't worry about her. She's safe."_

"Girl…?" Nate repeated.

"Jamie…" Robert answered, holding back his rage.

 _"Now now, she came to me. I promised her a power even greater than Evolution. She came willingly, with a little motivation of course."_

"Where is she?!" Robert's anger slipped out some.

 _"Awaiting her White Knight to come rescue her. I will send the coordinates to my location. Only thing I ask is that the deck holders come alone. This matter doesn't concern you and Nathan. More than anything I want them to see first-hand what the DCA really looks like under the mask it wears so proudly…"_

The mic cut off at that moment and silence fell into the room. Frightened, CJ looked to his father. "Dad…?"

"Karon, Dylan, I'm texting you both the location now." Robert explained to them.

Karon and Dylan looked at their phones and nodded.

"Sooner we get this done, the better." Karon said.

Dylan grinned and clasped his hand over his fist. "I second that. Come on CJ, let's go kick some butt."

CJ hesitated to answer. "How are you guys…?" he looked back towards Nate. "Dad, I'm so confused…"

Nate rested his hand on his son's shoulders. "Your mother and I will explain everything once this is over. Now go with Dylan and Karon. They're gonna need you."

"Go with them?! Are you insane?!" CJ stepped back from him. "So what I can end up like Jake, or Jamie? Why would you make me do something like that?!"

"Dude, we don't have time for a meltdown, Jamie needs us." Dylan reminded.

"Screw her!" CJ snapped. "It's all her fault!"

Dylan didn't expect that and was about to retaliate but Karon stopped him. "Fine. We can do this without you then. A coward like you would only slow you down."

"What'd you say?! A coward doesn't blindly run into danger like this!"

"No but a coward would much rather focus on their own livelihood over that of a comrade. Either way, you're going to hold us back and we prefer if we get this done without any hassle." Karon explained, leaving CJ speechless. On that note, Karon walked out of the room.

"We'll alert when we make the recovery." Dylan said. He turned towards the doorway, but stopped. "CJ, if you do decide to change your mind…" He took out his phone and texted him the address, "we'll be here. But don't follow us if you're gonna be like this. We'll all end up dead if you're not focused."

And with that Dylan followed behind Karon. CJ still speechless, looked to the two adult men. Robert sighed and turned his attention to his son.

"I'd like to be alone with him for a while." Robert said solemnly.

Nate nodded. "Come on CJ. Let's go home. I promise I'll explain everything."

CJ nodded and on that note, he and Nate exited the room and made their way back home.

* * *

Luke sat the K-VYZR back on the desk and leaned back as the data streamed on the computer. Jamie's deck case connected to the PC via USB cord and said girl passed out on a couch behind him.

"Oh how I love it when a plan comes together…" Luke said, anticipating his visitors.

"So does this mean it's our turn to have fun…?"

Luke looked over to the boy sitting on the arm of the couch, unannounced. He wore a red shirt under a black jacket, black jeans with a chain on the belt and boots. His hair spiked in different directions implying his rebellious nature.

"No matter how many times you do that it still manages to unnerve me." Luke said taking a deep breath.

"That's how we specters are." The boy smirked, leaning off the couch. He looked down at the sleeping girl. "Who's the chick?"

"A bit of insurance to assure you get your opportunity to have fun."

The boy looked at him and laughed. "That's some dark thinking, even for me."

"Grow up Brian." Another voice told him. Luke turned around and saw the two girls make their way into the room. One had brown hair and was a wearing a yellow dress shirt with a green tie with a dark skirt and heels, while the other girl was a red head wearing a white blouse with a red jacket and skirt, also wearing dark shoes as well.

"Good evening ladies." Luke said greeting them.

"So this is where you've been for the last several weeks." The red head said. She saw Jamie as well and rolled her eyes.

"I know that look Cindy." Luke smirked. "She hasn't said a word and already you don't like her."

"Are you sure she's the only one who can command the Dark Dragon?" Cindy asked him, hinting at repetition.

"Not my decision to make. You have an opinion you take it up with the boss."

"Seriously, how did you get mixed up with this guy anyway? And how do we know that we're getting what we're owed for all of this?" The other girl asked him.

"Because I believe him when he says that he hates everything that the DCA stands for just as much as I do."

"Quite the leap of faith for someone who doesn't feel like showing his face to us." Brian crossed his arms.

 _"I assure you all, before this night is over everything will be revealed to you."_ The voice spoke out, echoing in the room.

Cindy and the others looked around the room, not noticing a mic or anything visible to project the voice.

"This guy seriously creeps me out." The girl said.

Brian laughed. "Grow up, Megan." He said, mocking her previous comment. He looked over at the screen and the security footage on the outside of the building caught his attention. "Looks like we got company."

Luke spun back around, taking note of the pair. "Seems like one of them is missing. Ah well, we crush these two he's bound to come play 'Hero'." He looked back over to the other three. "Well, Brian, you wanted to participate moreso than these two."

Brian grinned. "Just leave it to me."

* * *

"Are…we at the right place?" Dylan looked up at the sign that read "Twilight Café" on the awning. He studied the coordinates on his phone and looked back up. There was no mistaking that this was the place.

"There's only one way to find out." Karon said opening the door.

The pair walked in and the smell of coffee hit them. A relaxing aroma, despite what they came for.

"Good evening, gentlemen." A waitress approached and greeted them at the door. "Table for two?"

"Uh, no, we're just looking for someone." Dylan waved. Although he didn't deny the want of a cup of coffee while they were here.

"Actually, yes that would be nice, thank you." Karon suddenly agreed.

Dylan leaned over. "Dude, we don't have time for a coffee break."

Karon whispered back. "Just goes to show how observant you are…" Karon directed his attention to the waitress' waist where to Dylan's surprise was a deck case, and hooked on the side, was a small headset similar to the one Jake had on him.

"Right this way please." The waitress smiled, directing them towards the back.

Karon and Dylan looked at each other and nodded, the pair thinking the same thing. And that was this girl was more than a waitress.

And so they followed behind obediently, all the while keeping their guard up. She lead them past the kitchen and all the way towards the back where an elevator awaited them.

"Aren't we special? Are we getting our own private room miss…?"

"Warner. Megan Warner." Megan introduced herself. "And yes, we've been expecting you to come and as such we set aside a specific room for you to enjoy your time here."

"Any particular reason?" Karon asked.

"Because the one who made the reservation wanted to keep things private. Plus with the fun we're going to have, my parents wouldn't appreciate the noise."

"Parents?" Dylan asked, surprised that she brought them up.

"And we're here." The elevator reached the top and the door slid open, revealing a bright hallway. On the opposite end was a large door which was a way's away from the elevator.

"The rest of the party awaits your arrival." Megan motioned. She and Karon were the first to exit and just as Dylan was about to take a step forward, a sudden force pulled him back and the elevator doors shut instantly. Karon turned back in surprise, hearing Dylan's exclaim but before he could do anything the doors shut.

"Hey! Karon!" Dylan banged on the door. "Someone, let me out!"

"Afriad that ain't happening…" A voice said, making Dylan grow cold. He flipped around and saw Brian leaning against the wall of the elevator. "At least not until I have some fun."

"Who the heck are you?!" Dylan jumped back, not noticing the boy enter the Elevator.

Brian laughed. "For the time being, you're worse nightmare." He raised his hand revealing a remote and with a press of the button, the elevator suddenly dropped.

"What's going on here?!" Karon snapped at Megan.

The girl set the headset on her ear and pressed the button. "K-VYZR: On!" and with the command the device came to life.

Karon could only guess what that gesture meant. He held his hand out and Megan acknowledged, tossing him a headset of his own.

He set it and tapped the button. "K-VYZR: On!" And with it the device changed the scene around them, the bright tiles underneath his feet turning into mud and the ceiling lights becoming the light of the full moon. On Megan's side of things, the complete opposite was happening, her standing on a fluffy cloud with the sun rivaling Karon's moon in the sky.

"A Light Duelist." Karon figured. "Just perfect."

"And you a Darkness Duelist. It seems that we've been fated to meet each other like this."

"If you want to tell yourself that." Karon said. "Just so you know as a Darkness Duelist there's not a chance I'll be holding back."

"My younger brother is an expert on the Darkness Civilization, so I know full well how you Duelists operate. Makes me feel somewhat sorry for your friend."

Karon smirked. "That makes one of us."

* * *

The elevator finally halted, with Dylan falling face first and hitting the floor. He tasted blood in his mouth from the impact and felt dizzy, but Brian's laughter was enough to bring him back to his senses. "What…what was that?"

"Sorry about that kid. It's just that my sister and I tend to like our own spaces. Which is fine by me. I enjoy my cave." He grinned, walking out of the elevator.

Dylan got himself on his feet and wiped the blood from his mouth. He exited the elevator and noticed what it was. It seemed to be a storage room for the café above.

"Pretty lousy cave if you ask me dude." Dylan criticized. "If you wanna scare me some more we can take the elevator for another go."

Brian laughed. "Oh don't worry, I have a much more preferred method." He tossed him a headset and Dylan caught it. "Whoa… a K-VYZR?"

Brian nodded after putting it on. "K-VYZR: On!"

"Oh man, this is sweet." He said excited. He put it on and pressed the button. "K-VYZR: On!" And the scene changed around him.

And suddenly Dylan felt fear set in.

Brian smiled as the storage boxes were replaced by tombstones and the light fixtures and other miscellaneous items on his side of the room turned into other creepy-esque items.

"Whoa…" Dylan said with a mix of excitement and terror. He looked down and saw the water under his feet. The beauty below the cyan-colored water put him at ease at the sight of it all with the myriad of colors. A vibrant contrast to Brian's cryptic, monochrome scenery.

"Luke did not disappoint when he said these things were something." Brian said, taking note at the area that surrounded him. "Looks like the DCA is useful for somethings after all."

"Luke, huh? Guessing that's the name of that jerk who took our friend."

"Jerk, huh?" Brian chuckled. "Yeah, sounds like him. But don't worry, unlike you she's going to be just fine. For now, at least."

Dylan got on the defensive. "Mind enlightening me on that statement?"

Brian smirked and held his hand up. His deck materialized into his hand and he set it at the table that also appeared. "You'll figure out soon enough."

Dylan blinked and quickly realized his deck was also a part of this augmented reality gear. Likewise he held his hand up in the same fashion and his deck materialized. He even skimmed through it to double check.

"Cool thing about these things." Brian said. "They allow us to duel wherever without taking our decks out of the case. The tech synchronizes with the data registered in them and applies it to this reality.

"Nice!" Dylan said. "Suddenly I don't feel scared anymore."

"Oh, well just let me remind you of what you're dealing with then. Shields up!"

Five shields materialized in front of Brian. Dylan nodded and set his shields in the respected zone. "Shields up!"

With both players drawing they looked to each other. "DUEL START!"

* * *

Nate and CJ returned to their apartment and once they opened the door Nate took notice of the two guests present with his wife.

"Jason… You've grown up since I last saw you." Nate tried to lighten the mood but the brown-haired young man's expression was nothing but serious. The twenty-five-year-old was dressed in a uniform which consisted of a black blazer and red shirt and black pants. On one of his hands was a glove and on his waist was a deck case which was visible in CJ's line of sight.

"Dad… who is that?" CJ asked sheepishly, trying his best to not say something that was going to bite back.

"That's Jason Martin. S-Rank Kaijudo Master. One of the youngest agents to ever achieve the title in the DCA."

"Martin? Wait a second, are you…?"

"My sister is in your class." Jason answered, confirming the thought. "Name's Jason. It's a pleasure."

"Yeah, likewise but…" he turned back to Nate, "What do you mean by 'agent'?"

"CJ, sit down." His mother pulled out a chair.

For a moment CJ didn't know what to expect, but at the same time he figured he wouldn't bother trying to question anything at this point. Obediently he sat and his mother and Jake's mother sat down at the table as well. Jason stood against the wall, looking ahead with everyone else.

At this point, CJ then saw a side of his father he never expected to see. After taking a deep breath, his demeanor shifted and he stared back at the group.

"The one who kidnapped Jamie and put Jake in the hospital is the son of Jonah Collins." He stated. "His aim, is to expose the DCA for what it really is."

CJ didn't know what he meant by that but what he did know was the tone of the room shifted when he spoke those words. He looked at his mother and Mrs. Wilson, along with Jason, who looked somewhat unnerved by the statement, but not as much as the two women.

"On top of that, the only ones he wants to go after your sister, Jason, is those who got a hold of the stolen decks."

CJ felt eyes on his shoulder as he turned back to see Jason staring back. At this point CJ sprung up.

"Can you please stop beating around the bush and tell me what's going on?! What is all of this and why is it happening to me?! I didn't even want to get involve with this stupid game and suddenly I feel as if I've been drafted into a war or something!"

"That's because you have been." Tsume's voice spoke up, making his presence known in the room. CJ opened his case and retrieved the card, which jumped from his hand and landed on the table, turning into the creature. "By me."

"How, you don't know anything about me why would you do this?! Why me?!"

"Because like I said before you're the only human in this world who I could sync with."

"You mentioned that before…the K-Wave thing, right?" CJ remembered.

Tsume nodded. "We sync. Which means we're partners."

"Part…ners?"

"CJ, sit back down." Nate grabbed him by the shoulder and brought him back down. He walked back to his spot and cleared his throat. "Your mother and I, and Jake parents, you know we were friends in College."

"Yeah, of course. You bring up stories all the time."

"Yeah well, not all of them. There were some that were too painful to bring up." Nate said. "We had a friend, Jonah, who was a Bio Major at our school. He was the one who got into Duel Masters first and before we knew it we found ourselves hooked as well. The game at the time was still relatively new but it quickly stirred up enough attention to become a popular trend. We had fun playing each other and facing off against other students on campus. It was an escape from the hectic life of studying and worrying about life's anxieties; an escape from the real world for minutes at a time."

"Then Jonah got an internship at the DCA. And that's when we learned that the DCA was much more than a game corporation." Catharine continued. "Soon we found out more about this game, about the world that inspired it, and the true purpose of the game."

"True purpose…?"

"The purpose of the game," Jason said, "Is to find those strong enough to become the line of defense for Earth and the Creature World; We DCA agents swear an oath to be the protectors of both worlds and maintain balance. Whether it'd be creatures trying to break through, or humans trying to take advantage of the creatures."

"And unfortunately," Janet added, "that's what Jonah wanted to do. After we all graduated we decided to work for the DCA, and while we tried to learn about the world beyond and get to know everything we could about it, Jonah's dedication to our work mixed with his passion took things to a point none of us expected."

"What did he…?"

"He and a group of DCA scientist were hoarding creatures and conducting experiments on them. So fascinated by the creatures ability to evolve and grow stronger, he began to preform horrific experiments all for the sake of re-creating them. All so that he could be a powerful duelist. The DCA taught us that the creatures depend on us as much as we do them in times of conflict and it was that bond that pushed us to our limits. Yet Jonas and his twisted way of thinking convinced himself that all they need is power which he foolishly thought he could provide with his knowledge." Nate said with a hint of regret in his words.

"Whatever happened to him…?"

"Well, after we discovered what he did, he sent those bioweapons after us. Robert stayed behind to buy us time to escape. And then… he told us that in the skirmish that Jonah perished with his experiments."

"So does that mean…? I mean I can't imagine why he would kill someone…"

"I never said he killed him. He made a choice. It was either Jonah or his son."

CJ voice caught in his throat. CJ's parents had him a year after they graduated. And then doing quick math in his head, he realized that Jake was born several months before him, which revealed the massive ultimatum that Mr. Wilson must have been faced with.

"And because of what Mr. Wilson did to his father…Jake had to suffer because of it…and here I blamed her for everything…" CJ dipped his head and realized that droplets were hitting his pants leg.

Nate smiled and rested his hand on his son's shoulder. "You know, I always knew you were my son. Because you were always the type to not turn your back on someone. And even if you did your guilt would eat you alive until you'd cave. Just like now."

CJ looked up and wiped the tears from his eyes. His father was right. The guilt was coming back to him. Even if he didn't like Jamie, she was on his mind just as much as Jake. He was worried about her and her wellbeing. And scared. Because if whoever took her had the capacity to hurt Jake the way he was, then he was scared for Jamie's sake. Made worse that Karon and Dylan were already in pursuit.

He only knew them for over a day and already he couldn't bear the thought of them getting hurt, especially if he could've done something about it.

"Tsume…"

The Fighter Dual Fang looked up to him. "We're synced so I know what you're thinking and I agree a hundred percent."

CJ smirked. "Yeah well, we are partners after all."

Tsume nodded. "I got your back if you got mine."

CJ nodded back. "You can count on it."

Nate grinned. "Sounds good." He looked over to Jason who walked over to him. Jason handed Nate two pairs of headsets who then handed them to CJ.

"K-VYZRs?" CJ looked at them and back at the pair.

"One for you and Jamie. I was going to surprise her, but now's as good as ever." Jason said. "I'm counting on you to bring my sister home safe."

"And that goes for everyone else." Nate added. "You wanted an adventure in your new home, after all."

"And I can honestly say I got it." CJ stood up with a newfound determination. Tsume hopped onto his shoulder and the pair stared straight ahead.

Although he didn't quite understand everything, he understood enough to get him motivated. To say he wasn't scared would be a lie. In fact he was shaking where he stood. But he would much rather be scared of what's to come then what could come. Because at least he expects it.

With that thought in mind, he left his apartment and went towards the address that Dylan sent him earlier. Hoping and praying that his new friends were safe and sound.

Wherever they might be…

* * *

Dylan drew and set his third mana, tapping all three. "I summon Aqua Hulcus. When he enters the Battle Zone I draw one card. With that, I end my turn."

A sea green-colored humanoid creature splashed up from behind Dylan next to his Emeral and Aqua Guard. It's tail swept back and forth as it held its hand out. A teal blue rectangle rose from it before disappearing.

 ** _Aqua Hulcus_**

 ** _Civilization: Water_**

 ** _Power: 2000_**

Brian drew and set the third darkness mana and tapped all three. "I summon Gray Balloon, Shadow of Greed.

Smoke stirred up next to Bloody Squito and from it a fat white ghost-like creature, appeared, it's ribcage visible, but it's belly big and white.

 ** _Gray Balloon, Shadow of Greed_**

 ** _Civilization: Darkness_**

 ** _Power: 3000_**

"Two blockers… Bad enough Squito's there but you're not giving me options to attack at all."

"This coming from someone whose civilization specializes in slipping past blockers." Brian scoffed.

"Hey, I didn't make this game okay? I just enjoy using what I use." Dylan laughed. He drew and set mana. "I cast Brain Serum, which allows me to draw two more cards." He set the spell in the grave and took his due. "Over to you."

Brian drew and set mana. "And on top of that you're expanding your hand to get more options. Tell me, do you really have a right to complain?"

"Like I said, I just play what I like."

Brian tapped three. "Well ain't that the truth. Tell ya what. I'll relieve you of one of my blockers," he revealed the card in his hand. "I evolve Gray Balloon into Jack Viper, Shadow of Doom!"

 ** _Jack Viper, Shadow of Doom_**

 ** _Civilization: Darkness_**

 ** _Power: 5000_**

Gray Balloon looked above at the purple crystal shining in the room and took a hold of it. the light dispersed the cloud and reformed it into a skeletal serpent surrounded in a purple mist. It hissed as it slithered to and fro behind Brian.

"I don't know what that thing does but I'm sure I'm not going to like it." Dylan said taking a step back.

"Hey," Brian shrugged and chuckled, taking note of Dylan's fear of the man-sized ghost snake. "I didn't make the game okay?"

"I just like using what I use…"


	4. Stride of the Paladin

Chapter 4: Stride of the Paladin

"So how did the talk go?"

Robert held the phone to his ear as he paced Jake's hospital room. He stopped, looking out the window at the setting sun. It's been some time since Luke contacted them through the K-VYZR that Jake was found with, and tensions were high.

" _As expected. CJ's following the lead that you sent the other two on."_ Nate replied. _"And Jake?"_

"Resting. He woke up some time after you all left but I told him to take it easy and that we'll talk when he's feeling up to it."

" _Speaking of, our conversation never ended."_

"I'm fully aware with it. I took the liberty of informing Roman on our progress. He expects us first thing in the morning."

There was a pause. _"Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. To be honest I was hoping things wouldn't have escalated as far as they did."_

"Believe me, none of us did." Robert turned to his son who laid asleep in the bed. "But like it or not, we couldn't turn back time then and we can't do it now."

" _Whatever happens from here on, I don't think I could live with myself if these kids are burdened with our sins."_

"Believe me, you get used to it after a while."

There was another pause. _"Call me if you hear anything."_

"You do the same." Robert then hung up.

"I screwed up, didn't I?" Jake said, eyes wide open and fully conscious.

Robert looked over to his son. "In some ways, but ultimately you played your part for now."

Jake sighed heavily. "If only I didn't let my anger get the best of me…"

"If you want my opinion, I don't believe it's that emotion that stumbled you."

Jake watched as his father began to leave the room. "As you know I have an early meeting with Roman. I must get home to prepare."

"What about the others? Are they going to be okay going up against Jonah?"

"You have my word. They'll be here to visit you. I've already seen to that myself." With that Robert walked out the room and closed the door behind him.

Those words didn't make Jake feel any better if he was being honest with himself. He was still worried about his friends. He was especially worried about Jamie's wellbeing. And being laid up in this bed didn't make him feel like the 'White Knight', that Luke called him before.

He felt like a failure.

* * *

Jamie's eyes peered open, following the sound of typing among the silence of her dark surroundings. Her head was throbbing, and she felt like she was hit by a truck. What happened exactly? The last thing she remembered was talking with Jake and then…

That duel…

Jamie jumped up but the pain of her headache brought her back down. She turned over and saw the illuminated screen and the person typing away. The person across from her stop and her heart skipped.

"Well well, was wondering when you were gonna come to." Luke said, turning around in the chair.

"It's you…" Jamie said.

"Yup, the one and only." He gave her a smile that made her feel even more uneasy. "How are you feeling?"

"What do you want?" Jamie ignored his question.

"For one thing, to know how you're feeling. Any headaches or…?"

"So what, not only are you're a kidnapper you're a doctor too?"

"Both of us know you would've came here of your own accord regardless of what I would've done." Luke noted. "Now back to my question, do you have a headache?"

Jamie hesitated to answer and slowly nodded. "What does that matter?"

Luke looked over to the capsule on the workstation where the Bolshack Dragon card resided. Upon realizing, Jamie reached for her deck, only to realize that was confiscated as well.

"Well I don't know if you realized but your Bolshack Dragon and you are synced. Which means, that you might have some slight side effects while I work."

"What are you doing to her?!" Jamie shot up off the couch, but the headache struck back, causing her to clutch the side of her head and fall back onto the couch.

"You wanted power didn't you? I never said it would be easy."

"Give…her back…" Jamie gritted her teeth as the pain worsened.

"I will. After I'm finished." Luke said, turning back to continue typing. "In the meantime, just lay back and try to relax. You cooperate, you'll have your stuff back and you'll be able to go free."

Jamie begrudgingly laid back. As bad as she wanted to do something, this headache would keep her planted. "Once my friends find out about this—"

"Oh trust me, two of them are here as we speak." Luke said, diverting from his work to pull up the security footage of Karon and Dylan in their respected duels. "To be honest they're putting up a better fight than I expected."

Jamie felt reassured by that comment. Her anxiousness subsided and she began to relax. "That's because those two are geniuses in their own ways. If anyone can do this I'm glad it's them.

Luke chuckled, sliding back from the keyboard to prop his feet up. "Okay, you got me curious now. Let's just see how these two fare against my friends then."

* * *

Dylan, trying to ignore his fear of the ghost serpent that devoured his Aqua Guard just now drew and set mana. "I summon a second Aqua Hulcus, and draw a card. Then, I cast Spiral Gate to bounce Bloody Squito back to your hand. Aqua Hulcus, Emeral, break his shields!"

A second Aqua Hulcus appeared behind Dylan and crossed it's arms to release a torrent that blew back Squito. The first Hulcus and Emeral then heeded Dylan's call and took out two of Brian's shields, as there was no defense for him to use.

 _ **Brian**_

 _ **Shields: 5-3**_

The shards came back to Brian and he allowed them to regenerate into his hand. "Well well, isn't this lucky? Shield triggers: Ghost Touch and Locomotiver! Each of them discard a card from your hand, which means both of those cards in hand are going straight to the grave."

From the darkness a whistle rang out and a red train, with the front car the shape of a black skull with gold spiral tusk rode in.

 _ **Locomotiver**_

 _ **Civilization: Darkness**_

 _ **Power 1000**_

Locomotiver blew its whistle loudly, knocking a card out of Dylan's hand, from the vibrations, while a pair of skeletal fingers picked the other card out of his hand.

Now unarmed and vulnerable, Dylan braced himself for Brian's turn which was coming up.

Brian drew and set mana. "You know, the fear in your face is priceless. I haven't even gotten serious and you're scared out of your mind."

Dylan scoffed. "Oh please, I'm trembling with excitement."

He lied. He was terrified. Not so much about the duel itself but of the situation. No clue who this guy was all about, and with Jamie missing, with no idea of her wellbeing, has him scared. Karon and him did talk about what to expect and they knew how serious things were. Yet what they imagined isn't what its turning out to be. Just one duel against these guys nearly got Jake killed.

No matter. He was determined to win this duel no matter what. He had to be strong for everyone's sake. Now was not the time to be scared of what's might come from this.

Brian tapped his mana. "I summon a second Gray Balloon and Squito. I attack Aqua Hulcus with Jack, and then Emeral with Locomotiver!"

That took Dylan aback. Emeral and Locomotiver have the same power, why have them kill each other off?

It took Jack to shoot past him and take down Hulcus to realize it.

Emeral threw up shields to block Locomotiver, but the dark train rammed through Emeral's defense and self-destructed upon impact. Dylan lost his balance from the explosion and once he regained it, he looked on Brian's side, seeing Jack Viper's card illuminate in a purple light, followed by Locomotiver being shrouded in similar fashion before bouncing up and landing in Brian's hand.

"By that look I guess you figured our Jack's ability."

"When one of your creatures is destroyed, it returns to your hand instead of the graveyard…"

"Which means that unless you find a way to get rid of Jack, my creatures are virtually immortal, coming back to life while your creatures rot." Brian laughed, revealing the core strategy of his deck.

Dylan draws and to his disappointment it doesn't help the situation he's faced with, so he sets it in mana.

Brian draws once more. "Don't tell me you're giving up. Guess you were scared after all."

Dylan waved his finger in the air. "Unlike you, I'm not spoiling the my secrets."

Brian's amused expression toned down as he set mana. "Devour everything you see fit. Unleash your hunger upon the world: Gigaberos!"

The ground behind Brian broke apart under his feet and from underground a chimeric quadruped white beast with multiple mouths rose up. It turned to Gray Balloon and Squito and devoured the both of them as Brian continued to smile at Dylan's shocked expression. The pair of purple orbs hovered in place of the two creatures, with Jack taking them into itself. The cards that represented the pair of blockers bounced back into Brian's hand.

"When I summon Gigaberos, if I destroy two of my other creatures he's allowed to stay in the Battle Zone. If not, then he destroys himself."

"And with Jack, you don't lose anything because your destroyed creatures return to your hand." Dylan figured. "It's such a simple yet powerful strategy."

"Heh, has it taken you this long to figure out I'm not just any old duelist you'd find in a local card shop? Trust me kid, my team and I are leagues ahead of whatever you guys have coming our way."

Dylan smirked. "I wonder about that…"

That comment not only caught Brian off guard but made him grit his teeth. "Jack, break his shield!"

Jack slithered ahead and shattered another shield on Dylan's side, the shards flying towards him as the card returned to his hand.

 _ **Dylan**_

 _ **Shields: 5-4**_

Dylan drew and set mana. "It's about time. Now that I know the basics of your deck I can finally formulate a counterattack."

Brian perked up. "Counterattack? Is this a joke?"

Dylan tapped his mana and threw the card into the air, allowing it to spin. "Stride across the waves, dashing through the impregnable defenses!" He caught the card and revealed it. "You're not the only one with more than one trump card. Ride on, Crystal Lancer!" he set the card on Aqua Hulcus and the creature began to glow with a blue light.

In place of Hulcus stood a green-colored centaur armed with a spiral, water-based lance and a shield. It stood at the ready, awaiting Dylan's command.

 _ **Crystal Lancer**_

 _ **Civilization: Water**_

 _ **Power: 8000**_

"Given that look on your face I'm guessing you know of Lancer's ability to get around your blockers. So unless you manage to get rid of him, Squito, Gray and whatever defenses you have in your hand won't stop me from breaking through and saving my friend!"

Brian kept silent, knowing that factor well.

"Crystal Lancer, attack Jack Viper!" Dylan ordered.

Crystal Lancer acknowledged the order and leapt over Dylan, coming down on the serpent who rose to the challenge. The ghost serpent coiled around Crystal Lancer like a predator and came down on him, however using his might he used his lance to break free, and in Jack's imbalance Crystal Lancer pierced the creature with its blade, unleashing a hiss of pain from the serpent as it faded away in a purple mist.

With his trump destroyed, Brian drew a card and set mana. "You're gonna pay for that. I swear on it!" He tapped mana and revealed his newly drawn card. "I cast Terror Pit! Destroy Crystal Lancer!"

Dylan watched helpless as the legion of dark hands rose from behind Brian and captured Crystal Lancer, crushing it into a spectacle of diamond dust.

"And now, Gigaberos, Double Break!"

Gigaberos howled and charged ahead, the monster using its disfigured claws to slash away two of Dylan's shields.

 _ **Dylan**_

 _ **Shields: 4-2**_

The shards returned to him and after retrieving them he flipped one of them. "Shield Trigger: Aqua Surfer to the Battle Zone!"

 _ **Aqua Surfer**_

 _ **Civilization: Water**_

 _ **Power 2000**_

The shards reformed into a blue-colored humanoid with a rainbow-colored surfboard behind Dylan. The Creature began to move too and from as a wave was summoned under him riding over Dylan and crashing into Gigaberos, causing it to wash away.

"When Surfer arrives in the Battle Zone, I choose one creature in it and send it back to your hand. It's obvious what my choice is." Dylan said as Surfer returned to him.

"Lucky trigger." Brian scoffed.

"You haven't been paying attention have you?" Dylan asked him.

"What was that?"

"What, did you forget about Emeral? What use do I have for a cost 6 creature that early in the game?"

It was then Brian realized what he meant. "You set Surfer into your Shield Zone from the very beginning."

"In the event you had something as nasty as that Gigaberos. Good to know of its little handicap. Now all I need to do now is make sure you don't get more than two creatures out for him to pig out on. As long as I keep that from happening, then he poses no threat to me."

Brian gritted his teeth. "Why you little…"

"My turn." Dylan smirked, drawing. He set mana and tapped four. "I cast a second Brain Serum and draw two cards. Following that, I summon a pair of Aqua Guards as well."

The two Aqua Guards materialized alongside Surfer ready to brace for whatever Brian had coming.

 _ **Aqua Guard**_

 _ **Civilization: Water**_

 _ **Power: 2000**_

"Now Surfer break his shield!" Dylan ordered and once again Aqua Surfer made his way towards Brian and broke yet another shield.

 _ **Brian**_

 _ **Shields: 3-2**_

The shield came back to Brian and he held his hand out as it regenerated. "Shield Trigger: Critical Blade. I destroy one of your blockers." He said, directing the trigger towards one of the Guards.

Blades materialized and darted towards one of the Guards, hitting them head on, and causing it to explode.

With nothing else to do, Dylan passed the turn over to Brian who drew. He set mana and tapped, revealing the cost 8 creature in his hand.

"I summon Gigargon."

The room felt as if it was shaking once more as a fortress-sized beast rose from behind Brian. The giant creature towered over them, its snake-like tentacles whipping back and forth as their eyes locked on Dylan and his squad of creatures. Gigargon's roar shook the room further causing two purple orbs to elevate from Brian's Graveyard and shoot into his hand.

 _ **Gigargon**_

 _ **Civilization: Darkness**_

 _ **Power: 3000**_

I return up to two creatures from my graveyard to my hand. I return Gray Balloon and Jack Viper." He said, adding the retrieved cards to his hand. "I'm done playing. It's time we finish things."

Dylan nodded. "Couldn't agree more." He drew and set mana. "I end my turn."

Brian drew and set mana. "I summon Bloody Squito, Gray Balloon, and evolve Balloon into Jack Viper. And then, I attack with Jack and Gigargon!"

After the creatures joined alongside the giant chimera, Gigargon unleashed a purple gas that over took Dylan's side and forced one shield to corrode from its poisonous capability. Jack followed and slithered through the mist to break another shield on top of it.

 _ **Dylan**_

 _ **Shields: 2-0**_

Dylan, shielding himself from the mist allowed the cards to build in his hand, taking the risk of keeping Guard intact. And when he saw the contents of his hand, he was glad he did so.

Brian crossed his arms. "This is your last chance to turn the tides of this duel."

"Ha, you made a pun." Dylan noted, much to Brian's annoyance. "Gotta tell you this was fun, but you're right about that. It's time we finish things. My friend is waiting for me upstairs. Shield Trigger: Aqua Jolter to the Battle Zone."

Another Liquid People Creature materialized, taking the form of a soldier with a pair of lances on both arms.

 _ **Aqua Jolter**_

 _ **Civilization: Water**_

 _ **Power: 2000**_

On that note, Dylan drew. "I evolve Aqua Jolter into Crystal Lancer." Dylan set the evolution creature on top of his newly summoned creature and Jolter took the power and reformed into the centaur-like lancer.

Brian shook his head. "No matter the case, I still have two blockers and two shields on top of it. Even if Lancer can take out both of my shields, he's the only one that can get past my Blocker safely."

"Knew you'd say that."

"What?"

"Which is why I've saved my real trump card. Lancer is nothing more than a high-ranking soldier in his army. Now, Vanguard of the Seven Seas, arise and lead your army to victory! I summon you: Crystal Paladin!" he slammed the card onto Aqua Guard and the creature took a hold of the newly materialized Evo Crystal. Aqua Guard reformed into a White Centaur armed with a crystal, hive-like shield and a sword.

 _ **Crystal Paladin**_

 _ **Civilization: Water**_

 _ **Power 5000**_

"Now, Lancelot! Blow his blockers from our path towards victory!" Dylan commanded.

Brian's eyes widened from the shock as Squito was bounced back. With no defense, his reliance was solely on whatever shield triggers were within his shields.

"Crystal Lancer Double Break!"

Crystal Lancer dashed on and sliced the last two shields to bits. Brian retrieved the cards and looked at them, and to his disappointment, nothing that could save him from the forces of the white Paladin, charging ahead.

 _ **Brian**_

 _ **Shields: 2-0**_

"Crystal Paladin, Finish it, Direct Attack!

Crystal Paladin charged and pulled it's bladed arm back and thrusted it forward, knocking Brian back on his back. with the final attack, the creatures faded away and the scenery returned to normal.

* * *

"Well well, didn't expect Brian to be beaten. Looks like you guys do have some skills under your belts after all. Think they can go two-for-two?"

"Wow, not gonna lie even I didn't see that coming…" Jamie walked up to Luke. Her eye trailed to the deck sitting nearby and the card locked within the tube. A window was opening in front of her, all she needed to do was to figure out how to get through it. "He's really been holding back around everyone at TCG Towers." Her eyes kept locked on as she slowly moved towards her deck.

"We Water Duelists can be manipulative, giving off a false impression to force our opponent to let their guards down. And if I'm being honest, Brian's not the type to sit and be analytical, so from the start he didn't realize how futile his efforts were…" He looked over, "…kinda like you right now."

Jamie felt her arm pulled back from somebody behind her and instinctively her free arm swung back and attempted to retaliate against her captor. Cindy kicked Jamie's knee in before she made contact and Jamie dropped to the floor.

"It'd be wise to stop now before you get burned, don't you think?" Cindy knelt down and got a hold of both her wrists.

Jamie struggled fiercely, yet amused by her struggle, Cindy pressed her knee into Jamie's back and forced her to the floor. She looked over to Luke, who sighed.

"Cindy, I can take it from here." Luke tapped a key on the keyboard and with a shriek, Jamie fell unconscious once again. Her arms fell limp in Cindy's hands and the girl looked at Luke as he stood up.

"Where are you going?" Cindy asked.

"I need some air." He said. "Keep an eye on her."

"You can't be serious."

"Make sure she stays secured. No one must enter this room unless I give the say-so, understand? The fate of this conflict rests on whether she stays put." Luke ordered her. With that he exited the room, leaving the girls alone.

Cindy gritted her teeth and got Jamie back onto the couch. "It should be me… I should be the one who wields its power, not you…" She looked over at the Bolshack Dragon in the capsule and walked towards it.

"I…I will be the one who wields its power…"

* * *

Dylan removed his headset and was greeted to the familiar basement-like setting he was introduced to. He looked over to Brian, who sat up. He removed his D-VYZR and looked at Dylan who towered over at a distance.

"Can't believe I lost to someone like you." Brian said, annoyed at his defeat.

"Yeah, well believe it. Turns out there's a brain behind this good-looking face of mine." Dylan pointed at himself. Normally don't like to show it off my intelligence, but when it comes to dueling, its allowed to roam free and do whatever is necessary to defeat my opponent. Especially when one of my friends is held hostage."

Brian stood up and dusted his pants off. "Better watch what you say kid. You're dealing with forces you can't even imagine."

"I don't care. My friend's life is in danger. You really think we didn't think this through?"

" _As a matter of fact I don't…"_ a voice suddenly announced through the D-VYZRs.

Dylan and Brian looked at the with the voice continuing.

" _Personally I believe you brats didn't think hard enough, of what you were getting yourselves into. By coming here you have sealed your fates."_

"Is this…?" Dylan began to ask

" _That's correct. This is the voice of Jonah Collins. I felt it appropriate to introduce myself."_

"What's the occasion? Do we have to beat you too before we can get our friend?"

Jonah laughed. _"I'm afraid not. For you will not be leaving here alive."_

"And why's that?"

" _Because you have broken the most fundamental principle of life on earth: Survival of the Fittest; in short, by throwing yourselves recklessly in harm's way to protect someone who is in her own right seeking a path towards survival, you yourselves have forfeited your right to survive. And in which case, as nature decrees, your punishment is death."_

The vents in the room suddenly spewed out a visible purple gas that quickly filled the room. Almost immediately Dylan began to choke from the gas. Struggling to find a window or some sort of opening, he couldn't help but collapse during his frantic search. As everything began to go dark, he looked at Brian, who walked towards him, wearing a gasmask himself, saving him from the gas that has subdued him.

As his eyes shut, he admitted defeat. His fear of the unknown overtaking him. Whatever happened afterward, he just hoped that Karon could succeed where he failed…

* * *

CJ walked into Twilight Café after circling the block once and confirming that the address was right. The fact that it was something as casual as a coffee shop of all things threw him off. He looked around, yet there was no sight of his friends anywhere.

"Good evening." The voice of the greeter caught his attention and startled, he stammered through a greeting of his own.

"Um, do you happen to know if anyone with a Fiona Academy uniform stopped by today?" CJ asked, continuing to look around.

The greeter let out a small giggle. "I'm afraid you have to be more specific than that. You see our shop is pretty popular amongst students in the area."

CJ nodded. "Okay, umm… one was a Spanish kid, blue sunglasses, another one was a tall dark-skinned guy."

The greeter pondered for a moment, trying to think if she saw anyone who fit the description. "I think I saw someone who looked like that in passing, but to be honest I don't know if they left already or not."

Was he too late? No that can't be the case, because he would've heard something from someone. "Well in that case, do you mind if I wait for them in case they pop up?"

"Not at all. You can have a seat at one of the booths." She turned. "I'll have someone attend to you in a minute."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." CJ agreed. The greeter lead him to a booth and handed him a menu. "Just be a moment."

"Yeah, sure." He said. As she walked off to attend to more guest entering, he opened the menu, stood it, and set Fighter Dual Fang onto the table, allowing Tsume to materialize and be hidden behind it.

"You're sure this is the place?" CJ whispered.

"No doubt. I can sense Blaze and the others in here, somewhere." Tsume said, beginning to pace. "Only thing is I don't have the faintest idea on where they could be."

"Well, this place does seem to be quite a few stories… think there's an elevator that leads to an office floor? Maybe for the management?"

"If that's so then it must be somewhere towards the back, like in the kitchen or something. Only problem is sneaking back there to access it."

"Good evening," A voice made CJ jump, causing his head to dart up at the waiter before him.

"Uh, hi!" he exclaimed, closing the menu quickly and slamming it down to hide the card.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." The waiter laughed. "Just checking to see if you want anything to drink?"

"Oh uh… a coke, I guess?"

"Coke…" he jotted the word down on his pad. "Okay, got it. I'll be…" he caught a glimpse at the bottom part of the card hiding under the menu. "Hey is that…?"

CJ looked down and quickly ripped the card from the menu. "What's what?"

"No way, you play DM?"

"D…M? Oh, you mean Duel Masters?" CJ realized.

"Yeah! My little brother loves the game. I used to play it too back when I was in Junior High but I kinda grew out of it. To be honest I'm surprised to see a High Schooler playing it."

CJ's face turned red slightly. "I lost a bet."

The waiter laughed, "No man, that's cool, I respect that. To each their own right?"

"Yeah… I guess."

The waiter looked at his watch. "Wow, my shift's just about over."

CJ, unsure of why he would mention that silently went along.

"I'll be right back to get your drink. Then afterward, why not have a quick match?"

CJ looked up. "What happened? I thought you said you grew out of it."

"I said 'kinda'. I don't play as often as I used to, but I keep my deck in my bag in case I get the urge to, y'know, 'own the zone.'"

An awkward silence came between them and the waiter laughed it off. "…Right, I'll be back."

As the waiter walked off CJ re-opened the menu and Tsume came back. "A warning would've been nice."

"Sorry, he caught me off guard." CJ looked back. "Why do I get the feeling something's off about him?"

"Because I have feeling myself." Tsume answered. "For now, go along with the duel. If my gut's right, he might be tied with Jamie and the others."

It took CJ a moment to process that. "Wait for real?"

"I said 'might'. It could be nothing but just keep your guard up." Tsume told him, to which CJ nodded.

The waiter came back out of his uniform and sat down at the booth, with CJ's coke and his glass of water. "So, mind me asking how long you've been playing?"

"About a day." CJ answered honestly.

"Well don't feel bad, I'm pretty rusty myself." The waiter shuffled his deck, set the shields and drew his hand.

CJ did the same, setting the shields and drawing after shuffling. "Guess you can go first."

The waiter nodded. He set a Water Civilization card into his mana zone and tapped it. "I summon Marine Flower." He set the card on the table. "Over to you."

CJ drew and set mana. "Pass to you."

The waiter drew and set mana. "I summon Emeral, and using his ability, I add a card from my hand into my Shield Zone, to exchange it with another card."

CJ drew and set mana. "I summon Burning Mane. Kinda cool, this is the first time I've faced the Water Civilization."

"Really? Then I intend to make it worth your while." He nodded. "By the way, some friendly advice when going about this. Water Duelists are known to master strategists, setting traps and stalling their opponents to try and outsmart them. In the lore of the game, they ally themselves with the Light and Darkness Civilizations, seemingly filling in the role of the medium between the forces of Good and Evil. While their tactics and methods compliment the focus on justice and upholding the peace that the Light promote, the Darkness also like to make fair use of their intellect, pushing their dark machinations and plans even further than they would dream of themselves."

"Whoa… that's pretty cool. So in other words, their intentions aren't known except to those of the civilization themselves."

"Bingo." He nodded. He drew and set mana. "I summon King Coral."

Suddenly CJ's odd feeling came back in full force. Something changed in that moment, but he couldn't figure it out. Just what happened all of the sudden to make him feel so uneasy?

"You know, I just realized we haven't introduced ourselves. What was your name again?"

CJ hesitated to answer. However considering the situation, he swallowed and grew the courage to speak. "Christopher Henderson. But everyone calls me 'CJ'."

"Henderson… Well, it's a pleasure." He held his hand out to shake. Uneasy, CJ decided to go for it.

And the feeling he had grew worse once they made contact. His grin matched the similar intensity that CJ felt in terror.

"My name is Luke Collins… I'm glad to finally meet you."


	5. Rise of a Generation

Chapter 5: Rise of a Generation

CJ shot up and reached out to grab Luke. Luke however, stopped his reach before he could grasp his neck. With a humored smirk, Luke further infuriated CJ, the latter ripping his arm back.

"Unless you want to end up like your friends I'd suggest you sit down." Luke suggested.

Reluctantly, CJ did, realizing the intensity of the situation. "What's going on here?"

Luke looked down. "Well as you can see, we're in a middle of a duel here."

"I'm being serious!"

"And you think I'm not? Best keep your cool there."

"Or what?"

"Or else he won't be able to explain what all of this is."

CJ felt cold for a moment and looked back behind him. Robert approached the pair and stood before them.

"Mr. Wilson…?"

"How did it go?"

"As you predicted, Brian's been defeated. Megan's duel is wrapping up as we speak."

"And him?" He motioned to CJ.

"Not known for sure, but from what I've seen he has potential." Luke commented, which annoyed CJ.

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here. Mr. Wilson, what is going on here, why are you here?"

"And what's the status of Project Neo?"

"Said patient is currently resting, while the Bolshack Dragon is adapting to the sudden change from the program itself. Only a matter of time until they'll both be on their feet and ready to jump in."

"Mr. Wilson!"

"Hey hey, calm down, okay? Remember, this is a restaurant." Luke told him.

"Don't give me that! Both of you have some explaining to do!"

Robert turned to CJ and sighed. "You are definitely Nate's son; as impatient as he can be."

* * *

The duel between Karon and Megan was well underway. With both Duelists having their shields intact, Karon has Marrow Ooze and Bloody Squito on his side, while Megan has Sieg Balicula, the Intense, on her side of the field, who recently attacked costing one of Karon's Squitos. It's unique ability of giving all of Megan's creatures blocker didn't seem much of an issue considering that it was the lone creature in her Battle Zone, yet Karon wasn't going to take chances as he began to formulate a method of getting rid of it.

Karon drew and set the card in his Mana Zone, bringing his total up to four and ending his turn.

Megan drew next and set her card in mana. "I summon Frei, Vizier of Air."

Frei, a floating slender gray robot with detached limbs that floated by its sides materialized next to Seig.

 _ **Frei, Vizier of Air**_

 _ **Civilization: Light**_

 _ **Power: 3000**_

Karon drew and set mana. "I summon Vashuna, Sword Dancer."

A tall armored creature with six arms and armed with swords materialized alongside Karon's defenses. It's ragged, red cloak flapped in the wind caused by Megan's side of the field.

"A Shadow Command." Megan noted. "I knew those decks had some rare things within them but even so, something as powerful as that…"

"It's your move." Karon said.

"Don't rush your demise." Megan said, drawing. "As a Duelist representing light, I just so happen to find appreciation in my opponent and their style of dueling. Being polar opposites of each other, I especially find the Darkness Civilization fascinating, seeing how we polar opposites contrast to one another."

Karon rolled his eyes, clearly not caring about her analysis. All he cared about was beating her and finding Jamie and Dylan so they can end this mess. Megan drew and set mana, holding her gaze locked on her opponent.

"I summon Sarius, Vizier of Supression." She said, setting the creature into her Battle Zone.

A gold, gear-like creature materialized besides Megan's creatures behind her.

 _ **Sarius, Vizier of Supression**_

 _ **Civilization: Light**_

 _ **Power: 3000**_

"I also cast Sonic Wing on Frei. For the duration of the turn, he can't be blocked." She stated. "Frei breaks a shield, followed up by Sieg!"

"Squito blocks Sieg!" Karon countered.

 _ **Squito: 4000**_

 _ **Sieg: 5000**_

The silver Initiate hovered over to Karon's side and lit his dark area with lightning gathered from the black sky. It casted the bolt towards his shields, but the Darkness creature shot in front of the blast and took the brunt of it, exploding on impact. Frei amongst the commotion soared in and broke a shield on Karon's side.

 _ **Karon**_

 _ **Shields: 5-4**_

"Due to Frei's ability, he untaps at the end of the turn, allowing him to block anything that may come my way." Megan said, untapping her creature.

Karon drew and set mana. "Trust me, I'll see to it that doesn't last long. I summon Photocide, Lord of the Wastes."

The mud behind Karon, in reaction to his play, began to bubble forth and slowly a figure rose from the sludge. A blind, spider-like mud figure formed from the pillar of mud. Slits on its head began to form, revealing to be a mouth, with the creature echoing an eerie cry, announcing itself.

 _ **Photocide, Lord of Wastes**_

 _ **Civilization: Darkness**_

 _ **Power: 9000**_

"Tell me, do you still find us being polar opposites 'fascinating'?" Karon asked her.

Megan didn't answer, focused on Photocide's presence. A 9000-powered creature that could attack her untapped Light creatures was problematic. It made her ability to untap her creatures each turn seem futile on the surface. However, she was far from giving up.

"Vashuna, Double Break!" Karon ordered.

"Frei Blocks!" Megan quickly reacted.

 _ **Vashuna: 7000**_

 _ **Frei: 3000**_

Vashuna leapt up into the air and brought his blades up, aimed at two of Megan's shields. Frei however, heeded his commander's order and retaliated, taking both swipes of Vashuna's blades and exploding from the attack before Vashuna landed.

"As I said, I know how you Darkness Duelist think."

"Then if that's the case, you should realize when you've lost."

Megan smiled. "You're cute, you know that? I assure you this duel is far from over."

"Great. I'd be disappointed if this was all you had to show for it."

Megan drew. "Well, my parents always instilled in us that we must keep our customers satisfied." She tapped her mana and revealed the card in her hand. "I cast Glory Snow. If my opponent has more mana than I do when I cast this spell, I add the top two cards of my deck into my mana zone."

Seeing as she didn't set mana this turn, Megan took the two cards from the top of her deck and set them. Now at seven total, she uses her remaining three mana and reveals another card from her hand.

"I summon Miele, Vizier of Lightning. When Miele is put into the Battle Zone, I can tap one of your creatures. I choose to tap Marrow Ooze."

A Brown teardrop-shaped creature flew into the battle zone on Megan's side with two addition teardrop objects followed closely to it, acting as its arms.

 _ **Miele, Vizier of Lightning**_

 _ **Civilization: Light**_

 _ **Power: 1000**_

The left arm slid open electricity generating from the inside. Miele charged forward and threw a generated light ring at Marrow Ooze, paralyzing it.

"With Marrow tapped, Sieg, I send you forward to attack it!"

 _ **Sieg Balicula: 5000**_

 _ **Marrow Ooze: 2000**_

Sieg once more charged ahead, gathering a bolt of lightning and casting it ahead. Marrow Ooze, already paralyzed could do nothing as the bolt came crashing into it, incinerating the darkness creature out of existence.

Karon moved the card to his grave and looked back at Megan, who began to smile once more. Ignoring her smirk, he drew. "Vashuna, Double Break!"

"Miele Blocks!" Megan countered.

As declared, Vashuna dove in for the attack, but Miele appeared and shot rings of lightning at Vashuna, who dodged until he came up close and cut down the small creature.

"Photocide attacks Sieg!"

"Sarius will block that as well!"

In a similar display, Photocide crossed its arms and threw them back, unleashing a grotesque howl that Sarius shielded Sieg from. The sound waves shattered the blocker, leaving Sieg isolated.

"Surely you realize that as long as Sieg exists there's no way you're getting to my shields."

"Well naturally that perfect defense you're so confident in is bound to run out."

"I assure you, I have more than enough soldiers at my disposal to keep me secure." Megan said, drawing. "I summon Magris, Vizier of Magnetism, and draw a card from his ability."

Another Vizier materialized, this being a construct of a small body and two cannon-like devices armed at its sides, generating green bolts of electricity.

 _ **Magris, Vizier of Magnetism**_

 _ **Civilization: Light**_

 _ **Power: 3000**_

With its ability, Megan drew a card from her deck. "I summon a second Sarius, and attack with Sieg!"

Sarius once again materialized and Sieg obediently went into the attack once again, taking out another shield.

 _ **Karon**_

 _ **Shields: 4-3**_

"I appreciate that. Now I can safely say that this duel is mine."

"To be honest I appreciate your confidence. But do you honestly expect to get past my defenses?"

"At the moment, no. But you know what they say, 'fight fire with fire'. Or in this case, 'blockers with blockers'." Karon drew and tapped his mana. "I summon Gregoria, Princess of War."

From the shadows, a feminine figure formed, revealing herself to be a gold-armored creature, a blue cape draped over her shoulders and a mask that hid her true face.

 _ **Gregoria, Princess of War**_

 _ **Civilization: Darkness**_

 _ **Power: 5000**_

Her hand rested on the rapier she had on her side, and a whip in her other hand, she stood beside Karon, and looked at the Shadow Command before her. the pair took note of their new commander and held their positions in a guard-like state.

"Judging by your expression you see what I mean now. Gregoria gives all my Shadow Command Blocker. Sieg can't get near me without being cut down." Karon explained.

"Don't get cocky. This is far from over." Megan said, drawing. She set mana and tapped it. "I summon Re Bil, Seeker of Archery.

Another gold construct appeared, lightning connecting its separate joints together.

 _ **Re Bil, Seeker of Archery**_

 _ **Civilization: Light**_

 _ **Power: 6000**_

"Re Bil has the power to give all other light creatures an extra 2000 power."

Re Bil held its hands upward and discharged lightning from them, each hitting Megan's creatures, and boosting their prowess.

 _ **Sarius, Vizier of Suppression**_

 _ **Power 3000-5000**_

 _ **Magris Vizier of Magnetism**_

 _ **Power: 3000-5000**_

 _ **Sieg Balicula, the Immaculate**_

 _ **Power: 5000-7000**_

"Shame that Photocide remains to be a thorn in my side. Soon enough though I'll find a way to get past him." She commented, taking note that Sieg was still 2000 power short of being a match to the Darkness creature.

Karon drew and set mana. "I'm not gonna lie, I was looking forward to that. I cast Death Smoke on Sieg!"

Megan's eyes widened as the dark cloud suddenly surrounded Sieg and began to corrode the machine-like entity. The skull-like face in the cloud laughed maniacally before consuming the rusted machine entirely.

"Without Sieg…" Megan uttered. The explosion of Re Bil scared her back, forcing her to realize that Karon already used Photocide to attack her creature.

"Vashuna, Double Break!"

"Sarius Blocks!" Megan frantically reacted, causing Vashuna's latest attempt a waste as well.

"I just crushed your only strategy, didn't I?"

"Shut up!"

"I'll take that as a yes…"

Megan gritted her teeth and drew. "I summon Magris and draw one card."

Magris materialized and granted her another card.

"And then I cast Sundrop Armor. With it, I add one card from my hand into my shield zone."

 _ **Megan**_

 _ **Shields: 5-6**_

"I may have lost my defense but I can still buy myself time until I rebuild it."

Karon drew. "As if I'd give you the chance. Vashuna go for it!"

Vashuna reacted and once again went in for her shield zone. With nothing protecting her, her shields were finally vulnerable and two of them shattered away

 _ **Megan**_

 _ **Shields: 6-4**_

"Gregoria!"

Gregoria acknowledged the command and unleashed her whip, following suit and whipping a shield into shards as well.

 _ **Megan**_

 _ **Shields: 4-3**_

With three cards in her hand, she had to commend Karon for not going after the shield she set. Assuming he'd be saving it for last, she drew. "I summon two more Sarius, and another Frei."

The three initiates materialized in the Battle Zone, giving her 2 more blockers, to block Karon's opposing creatures.

Photocide could very well take down a Sarius, Megan thought, however she wasn't going to back down. She was going to hold on to the very end.

She refused to give up.

Karon drew. "Kage, let's end this." He flipped the drawn card over. "Photicide, Evolve!"

Megan felt dread overtake her at the sight of the card in his hand. It only furthered at the sight of her area being overtaken by the darkness of Karon's side.

"Master of the Night, I call upon you. Allow your howl of terror instill fear upon you enemies! Ballom, Master of Death!" Karon set the card onto of Photicide and the card began to illuminate in a purple hue.

Photocide reacted, throwing its hand upward and grasping the Evo Crystal that materialized. Black wings jutted out of its back and surrounded him as he rose upward. Once they parted, like a cocoon, Photocide was replaced by a mythical-looking creature hovering in a lotus position. Bones covered his chest and arms, the gauntlets jagged like scythes. Black wings, illuminated by the moonlight floated about the pair of duelists.

"You can't be serious…!"

"Ballom, eradicate her creatures…" Karon snapped his fingers and the creature obeyed, unleashing its feathers outward. The creatures each corroded in place and fell, one by one, the pair of blockers and Frei immediately sent to the graveyard.

"Vashuna, Gregoria, break her last shields…" Karon ordered. Without hesitation, Vashuna and followed by Gregoria broke the last three shields.

 _ **Megan**_

 _ **Shields: 3-0**_

Megan sighed and smiled. "Alright. I know when I've been beaten. Not bad for a rookie."

"That supposed to be a compliment?"

"That's for you to decide honestly."

Karon clicked his tongue. "Ballom, Direct Attack!"

Ballom clapped his hands together and pulled them apart, generating a ball of purple energy. He pushed it forward, hurling it towards Megan who stood in place and allow it to pass through her.

With the victory secured, Karon removed his headset and his eyes were greeted with the white hallway from before. Megan removed hers as well and deactivated it, sliding the Bluetooth-like device in her shirt pocket.

"Start talking." Karon demanded. "Where's Jamie, and what do you all plan to do with her?"

Megan smiled and turned back. With a quick snap of her fingers, Karon felt the presence of something zipping behind him. Before he could quickly turn back, a strong shock ran through him, enough to make him pass out. He dropped to the floor, and Megan turned to watch as Sieg Balicula hoisted the teen on its shoulder.

"Sorry about that, I'm sure you would've came anyway, but I just want to be sure there." Megan apologized. She started walking ahead with Karon and her creature in tow.

* * *

"A test…?" CJ repeated as the word danced into his head. "Jake getting hurt and Jamie getting kidnapped was all a part of some stupid test?!"

"And so far you're the only one who knows about it." Luke replied.

"And I'd like it to stay like this until further notice." Robert added.

"Your son, my best friend almost died today…" CJ turned to him. "Do you honestly expect me to keep this a secret from anyone, especially him?"

"I do. You are the only one I can trust to withhold this information for the sake of both Earth and the Creature World. Or rather, it's because of Tsume, that you are the only one I can trust."

CJ grew quiet and looked down towards the Fighter Dual Fang who materialized on the table. His demeanor was less confused and more serious, as if he understood the weight of the situation better.

"We're familiar with one another, aren't we?" Tsume asked him.

"Indeed we are. In due time you both will learn more but right now the pressing matter we're faced with is Jonah Collins."

"Up until recently, I blamed the DCA for my father's unjust death. Abandoned by his allies in the Creature World, my hate for the organization who made their wealth by covering their illegal crusade disgusted me to my core. Eventually I found friends who in one way or another felt wronged by the DCA and wanted to do something about it."

"Go on…"

"Its when we met him. It was during the regional tournament here in NYC a year back. We may have despised the DCA but we had no power to reveal the dark secrets they hid from the public. A man approached us, telling us that he too was wronged by the DCA and vowed to do something about it. He provided us with the technology and information needed in order to begin the process of taking them down. And when I learned that he was in fact my own father, I was even more dedicated to the mission."

"So what changed then?"

"I did." Robert stepped in. "During one of his heists, I ran into Luke here and recognized him as Jonah's son. It was then I explained what kind of man he was and learned why he was doing what he was. I too am not fond of the DCA's way of handling things. The secrets and lies that we hold from the public eye shouldn't be so. So I made a deal with him. He would help me to bring his father to justice…"

"…And he would help me expose the DCA for what it really is. And with any hope, reform it to a more proper system."

"And why get us involved? You already have them."

"Because we can't just sync with anyone. We know who we pair up with. Call it whatever you want, fact is I need you."

"Even if I don't want anything to do with this…?"

"I'm afraid for the sake of both worlds, you can't get out of it." Robert said. "If it makes you feel better, I was the same way when your father and I first got involved in this. Despite the low points, I don't regret a second of it. Hopefully you can see it from my perspective someday."

"To be honest I don't think I'll ever be able to—!"

A loud explosion shook the room causing silence to fall amongst the residents in the room.

"Something's wrong…" Luke said, uneasy.

Seconds later a second explosion proclaimed itself. This one causing the three of them to run outside to see the full extent of what was unfolding…

* * *

The door to the office opened for Megan and to her shock, she saw Cindy laid out on the floor near the console where Luke was working on.

"Oh my god Cindy!" She rushed over and attempted to flip her over but pulled back, feeling the intense heat resonating from her person. "Hey! Hang in there!" she reached into her shirt pocket to pull out her K-VYZR but something latched onto her before she could hook it onto her ear.

"Don't you dare…" Cindy snarled. The girl looked at Megan, her irises, glowing red, as intense as the heat that Megan felt on her wrist.

Megan pulled back and Sieg covered her as she checked her wrist. "Cindy what happened to you?!" she looked over and noticed Jamie's deck case was missing.

"I will prove to him that I'm capable. I'll prove that I have what it takes to take down the DCA."

"Cindy that's not our place, you know what we agreed to."

"What _you_ agreed to!" She snapped. "I never agreed to any of this. I refuse, to pretend to associate myself with an organization that took them away from me! Who lie and pretend that they didn't ruin my life!"

Megan stopped herself from commenting, realizing she couldn't argue that fact. She knew the reason behind Cindy's hate towards the DCA but at the same time…

"You only get one chance." Cindy said, that made Megan freeze up. "Move it, or you'll burn."

Snapping back into focus, Megan's hand sparked with yellow light. "I'm not moving."

"Have it your way then." Cindy's hand, sparking with red energy rose above her head and slammed onto the ground. The floor beneath them erupted with a spiral of flames and the sudden combustion within the room blew out the windows, with the force of the act blowing Megan back and through the window of the building.

Freefalling, Sieg fell after Megan and was able to retrieve her, with the creature covering her as they slammed into the asphalt below, increasing the immediate panic from the explosion seconds earlier. Taking such damage, Sieg dissipated, leaving a bruised and burned Megan sitting in the small crater that Sieg made.

CJ, Luke and Robert raced outside and saw the hurt teen being surrounded by paramedics.

"Hey!" Brian's voice boomed from behind. "What happened to my sister?!"

Luke turned around and felt Brian's hands grip his shirt. Luke unhanded him and shoved him back, making Brian charge again. CJ and Robert kept the two apart this time around.

"Get off me!" Brian broke Robert's grip on him.

"Once you calm down I'll gladly do so."

"Oh trust me this is as calm as I'm gonna get!"

"Cindy, what happened up there?! Cindy?!" Luke tried to call the missing girl.

" _I told you…I am worthy of this power…"_

"You can't be serious right now!"

" _I'm totally serious! If you're not going to help me bring down the DCA then I'll do it alone!"_

"Cindy!" Luke heard the mic cut out and out of anger he threw his K-VYZR on the ground and ruffled his hair in frustration.

"What happened?" Robert walked up to him.

"She must have stolen the card. I warned her that she wouldn't be able to control it."

"Especially with the contents of Project Neo integrated within it, there's no telling how unstable it can be at this point."

"What's happening now?" CJ looked at the both of them.

Luke looked at the time. "If we're lucky, about five minutes until NYC will be turned to rubble by a rampaging dragon."

CJ took a moment to allow that to sink in. "Why…?"

"The DCA had in its possession something called 'Project Neo', an experimental program based on Water Civilization technology to aid in the evolutionary process of a creature. It was the result of Dr. Collins' experimentation on the creatures in the Creature World."

"Wouldn't it have made sense to destroy something like that?"

"I was requested to steal it before that could happen. It's a major piece of evidence that we could use against the DCA."

"Aside from using it to lure a group of unknowing teens into a world-ending mess, you mean?"

Luke pinched the bridge of his nose.

"More importantly, Jamie's Bolshack Dragon is the only one out of the five creatures residing in these decks that has yet to find an evolutionary form. In order to have a counter for Dr. Collins and whatever machinations he has in store, the intention was to use Project Neo to awaken her potential and allow her to reach her evolutionary form."

"But…that's where we run into our current problem. Cindy, the stubborn hothead that she is, stole the card and is most likely heading for the DCA building ready to destroy it and everything in it. On top of that, with it being unstable, there's no telling the amount of casualties that'll pile up as consequence for it."

"Is there anything we can do about this?"

"For now, let us take care of it." Robert said. He turned and CJ's gaze followed, and to his surprise he saw Karon and Dylan being carried out of the building by firefighters and medical personnel who were tending to the ensuing chaos around them. "For now, they need you more."

"Are they…?"

"They're fine." Tsume said, materializing on CJ shoulder. "Lancer and Kage's K-Waves are still intact.

A sense of relief came over CJ hearing that from him. "Hey wait…Jamie's not with them!"

Luke and Robert looked again, forcing Robert to confront one of the Firefighters. The expression on his face spelt CJ's fear.

Luke took a card and tossed it into the air. The card began to radiate with a blue light and with it transformed into a blue humanoid riding a surfboard. Surfing across the air, he parked himself in front of the pair. CJ blinked and slowly touched the creature to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. The creature felt solid, despite being made of completely of water, the fluidness felt by his hand resting on his bicep.

"Come on, we're going to get them back."

"Wait, we're seriously going to ride this thing?"

Luke nodded, as if it were obvious. "You can't second guess yourself here, especially now. Either you stay and die with the rest of the city, or come and try to keep that from happening."

"But—!"

"I said I saw potential in you. Don't make me a liar, especially now of all times." Luke cut him off. He held his hand out and for a moment, CJ felt something within him. He couldn't explain what it was, but before he knew it, his hand and Luke's were joined to one another.

"Hey… wait a sec—whoaaaa!" CJ exclaimed as Aqua Surfer took off into the sky.

Luke helped CJ onto the board and once he got his bearings, CJ looked down. The beauty of NYC at night was more than enough to quell his newly acquired fear of heights.

"This…all of this is at stake." Luke explained. "the fate of millions of people rests on whether or not we can pull off a miracle right now."

"Wow…this is cool…" CJ ignored Luke, continuing to take on the beauty.

Luke shrugged and looked ahead, Aqua Surfer picking up speed towards the DCA HQ.

* * *

Cindy landed on the rooftop of the DCA building, Jamie's limp body crashing behind her on the floor. The latter groaned from the impact and slowly opened her eyes.

"…Where am I?" Jamie said, sitting up. Her head was throbbing, and the chilled winds were hitting her, making her come to faster.

"You know, when I learned about the true nature of the DCA from my parents, I couldn't wait to join them. I gave it my all to prove I had what it took to become a DCA Agent like them. But then one night they never came home…"

Jamie rose to her feet and realized where she was. "How did we…?"

"My parents apparently were lost during a recon mission in the Fire Civilization. It was only later on that I learned that it was a cover up because they learned the secrets of Project Neo and what the DCA planned to use it for. My parents threatened to expose its contents to the public but they were taken care of before it could be revealed. Ever since I've been trying to find a way to bring the DCA to ruin, whatever it took."

Jamie was about to speak up once again, but stopped herself when she took note of Cindy's expression, her glowing red eyes and the tears they leaked.

"The DCA will fall tonight. By the very weapon they tried to silence." Cindy said, holding up Jamie's Bolshack Dragon card.

"Blaze!" Jamie exclaimed. She tried to charge Cindy but her fatigue would only let her move so far.

Cindy smirked. "Luke agreed to help me get revenge for my parents but instead of allowing me to do it he sought _you_ out. A girl who's in way over her head, who doesn't know the first thing about the kind of world we walk in."

Jamie scoffed. "I know enough to know that whatever you intend on doing can't be good and that you need to be stopped."

Cindy grinned and snapped her fingers. A great roar sounded forth and from the skies descended an orange wyvern with red wings and a pair of cannons on its back. "Tell me then. Can you stop this?"

Jamie stood astounded, staring at the Twin Cannon Skyterror that hovered above. Her knees grew weak and she started to shake out of fear.

"I didn't think so." Cindy said. She raised her hand once again, but before she could snap her fingers, Twin Cannon Skyterror screeched in pain. Cindy looked back and to her surprise, Legendary Bynor had the wyvern locked in its jaws, taking it further from where they were.

"Stop this!" CJ exclaimed, with him and Luke landing on the rooftop.

Jamie looked at the pair of them, and took a moment to process what she was seeing. "What are you doing here?"

"Thank me later." CJ told her, keeping his serious demeanor.

"Are you insane?!" Luke shouted at her.

"Not as much as you are. I told you I could handle it!"

"Look at you!" Luke snapped. "Handle what? You're sending the whole city into a panic just to prove something. We agreed to take down the DCA by exposing their crimes, _not_ by terrorism!"

"Either way it's getting the job done, isn't it?"

Luke stomped forward and grabbed her by the shirt. "You need to understand that the longer you hold on to this the closer you are to getting yourself killed."

"As long as justice is served I'll die a martyr."

"You'll die a terrorist."

Cindy shoved him back off her and CJ ran up to join Luke. "Either way we both knew this was bound to happen one way or another. I've accepted my fate, its time you've done the same."

"For the sake of my friends and everyone who lives in this city I refuse." CJ stepped forward.

Cindy laughed. "What a horrible time to play the hero kid. Are you willing to burn alive with all of Manhattan?"

"That's not gonna happen, I assure you."

Cindy shrugged and threw up four fingers. "This is all I need."

Luke's eyes widened. "Cindy, don't! He's not prepared for something like that!"

"Bring it on!" CJ demanded. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his K-VYZR.

"Hold on…" Cindy waved. "If we're going to do this, let's do it properly." Her hand sparked with red electricity and she snapped her fingers. A visible red digital wave erupted forth from her person and covered the entire rooftop.

Tables materialized between them and CJ realized that he didn't need the K-VYZR to look at them. He rested his hand on it and realized that it was in fact the real thing.

"What the…?"

"By manipulating the K-Waves within us we Kaijudo Duelists can activate Duel Fields, a set perimeter where we can summon creatures from their world into our own. Only those who are participating in the match are the only ones who can summon and control the creatures within." Cindy explained.

CJ watched her set her cards in her Shield Zone and was astounded as each card materialized before her.

"This…this can't be real…"

"Hey, now's not the time to back down." Tsume reminded. "Just focus on winning, we'll make it out, okay?"

CJ swallowed hard. "…yeah…" he shuffled his deck and set it down. He drew the top five and set them one by one before him. The sensation came back to him, this time a quick flash of an image hit him. He shook it off and drew his hand. He wasn't gonna focus on it.

"You okay?" Tsume asked him.

"Yeah, I'm good. You?"

Tsume nodded. "Never better."

CJ nodded and drew his hand. "Shields up!"

The five shields materialized, sending the sensation hitting him again. The image flashed again, and CJ could focus for only a second. Before he could make sense of it, his head began to ache. He didn't like where this was going, but he had to remind himself that there was no getting out of it.

"I summon Deadly Fighter Braid Claw!" Cindy said, tapping her mana.

CJ, surprised that she started their match, was even more taken back by the pillar of fire that erupted from behind her. From it, the dragonoid flipped out of it, and landed before her, turning its attention towards CJ, instilling a sense of fear within him.

"Loving that fear in your eyes." Cindy said.

CJ snapped back into focus and drew. The thought that he couldn't do anything except set mana got to him, but nonetheless he played the only move he could, swallowing his fear in the process.

Cindy drew and set mana a second time. "I summon Snip Strike Bullraizer."

Another pillar erupted, this time emerging from it, a green dragonoid dressed in navy samurai armor, wielding a large pair of clippers seemingly mounted on his armor.

 _ **Snip Strike Bullraizer**_

 _ **Civilization: Fire**_

 _ **Power: 3000**_

"Braid Claw, break his shields!"

Braid Claw roared and jumped over Cindy, and towards CJ, the latter feeling his heart grip as the large lizard man landed before him. The roof shook from the impact. Braid Claw roared and slashed one of CJ's shields. The teal shield cracked and shattered, the force of the impact showering CJ.

CJ felt the shield shards cut his skin like glass before they landed at his feet and dispersed into the air.

 _ **CJ**_

 _ **Shields: 5-4**_

"You okay there?" Luke asked him.

CJ moved his arms down, his arms stinging in the process. "I'll be okay…"

All the while he was still thinking of what kind of mess he found himself in.

"Not for long." Cindy said. She held two fingers up.

As if he wasn't unsettled enough; CJ drew and set mana. "I summon Burning Mane!"

He set the card on the table and a green spark shocked his hand from the card, making him pull back. He looked at his hand for a moment and then suddenly felt a weird shock hit him. It was enough to stagger him, making him clutch the table.

"Concentrate!" Luke called out to him. "Stay focused and maintain control!"

"Control of what…?" CJ said through the increasing pain. He looked at Burning Mane who sat on the table and focused on the card. As he did so a small wind began to stir up behind him. Making the correlation quickly, he focused on the card intently, the wind picking up and causing the card itself to glow green. From behind he could feel the presence of something growing, and once he turned back, he witnessed the bipedal lion begin to materialize.

"Come on…come on…" CJ cheered on silently.

Focusing even more, CJ poured out every bit of willpower he had on this and before he knew it, Burning Mane flexed its muscles and roared to announce its arrival.

Jamie looked on, at a loss for words. She sat, staring at CJ, a total novice be able to summon an actual creature.

In short she was amazed at the sight.

CJ, breathing deeply to regain his breath couldn't take his eyes off of Burning Mane. "Hey there big guy."

Burning Mane looked down at his Duelist and gave him a nod.

Cindy drew and set mana. "I cast Magma Gazer."

CJ, realizing that Cindy was wasting no time watched helplessly as a spiral of flame encircled Braid Claw.

"With this, Braid Claw gains Power Attacker +4000 and Double Breaker."

"Wait seriously?!" CJ exclaimed by her statement. Before he could process it, Braid Claw and Snip were already standing before him.

 _ **Braid Claw**_

 _ **Power 1000-5000**_

Fear once again set it and three more shields shattered before him.

 _ **CJ**_

 _ **Shields 4-1**_

Burning Mane this time shielded CJ from the shards flying in their direction. As Burning Mane removed his arms, CJ realized that one of the shields didn't move, the shards hovering before him. CJ looked at the shield and realized why that was.

"Shield Trigger!" He exclaimed. "I summon Torcon!" The strain came back, but it didn't hurt as bad, with Torcon reforming from the broken shield.

"Oh… look at you trying to pull a comeback. Gotta hand it to you, I gave you four turns to survive out of you being a total novice."

CJ grinned. "Well aren't you considerate. I'll be sure to make sure you get your worth's!" He drew and set mana. "I summon Bronze-Arm Tribe!"

Bronze-Arm Tribe materialized besides his two creatures. At this point, CJ was developing a headache. The strain of summoning creatures wasn't as easy as Cindy, who stayed unfaltering, made it seem. How could she keep so steady?

Or a better question: How much does he not know about this secret world involving these cards?

Now wasn't the time to question it. He rested his fingers on Burning Mane's card. "Burning Mane, Attack Braid Claw!"

Burning Mane acknowledged his Duelist's request and charged ahead to challenge the Dragonoid

 _ **Burning Mane: 2000**_

 _ **Braid Claw: 1000**_

It was almost move for move according to Jamie's memory from their first duel. CJ's first major play against her, was taking out her own Braid Claw with Burning Mane. Like that time, Burning Mane used his tree as a club, pounding the dragonoid back from once it came. The Dragonoid flew overhead and crashed into the Duel Field barrier, dissipating in a red light.

"Nowhere near done!" CJ then tapped Torcon. "Break her shield!"

Torcon responded hopping over CJ and charging. It pulled its fist back and launched it into a shield. The shards shot past Cindy, a red aura appearing with each strike while she stood unflinching.

"How come they didn't cut you?" CJ asked surprised.

Cindy found his disbelief amusing. "Just like the Duel Fields, skilled Kaijudo Duelist can manipulate an aura around ourselves during a duel to protect us from any fatal injuries. I would tell you it comes with training and time, but it's a shame you won't have either."

"What gives you that idea?"

"This." Cindy held her hand out and the shards regenerated to her hand. She threw her hand skyward. "Shield Trigger: Burst Shot!"

The shards floated into the sky reforming into a group of cannons that locked onto the creatures below.

"Burst Shot destroys every creature in the battle zone with power 2000 or less. Since Snip has 3000, power, he's safe. However, I can't say the same of your creatures." Cindy explained. She snapped her fingers. "Now burn!"

The cannons unleashed its firepower and took down each of the creatures, also sending CJ flying back from the impact. He rolled across the roof, his body aching all over. He struggled to regain himself, horrified by the sight of his three creatures disappearing from the barrage of fire.

"No…way…" He said utterly petrified.

Cindy drew and set her mana. "Sad to say that this is where we come to an end. Bombat, General of Speed, come forth."

A green Dragonoid with two orange missile launchers materialized and flew in, each of the missiles, seemingly sentient, with mischievous eyes and sharp teeth lining them.

 _ **Bombat, General of Speed**_

 _ **Civilization: Fire**_

 _ **Power 5000**_

"In a world where survival is all that matters, you do whatever you can to obtain it. Some people have the luxury to allow life to carry them along, while others have to lie, cheat, steal…even kill to obtain something similar." Cindy stated. "Don't take this personally. But for my sake and my parents I am willing to do whatever it takes to survive. And even if I don't, I can die easy knowing that those who stand in my way will follow alongside me."

"Cindy stop this, now!" Luke stepped up.

"Snip break his last shield!"

The creature obeyed and took down the last shield.

 _ **CJ**_

 _ **Shields: 1-0**_

CJ, staggered as the shards flew past him. He tried to make it to the table but his weakened state made it harder.

Survival is all that matters…

Survival… is all that matters…

Survival…

CJ looked at the shield and his surprise caught his throat.

Fighter Dual Fang… His trump card… his ticket to make a comeback!

"Bombat, General of Speed: Direct Attack!"

CJ felt himself grow cold. He slowly looked up as the Dragonoid's gaze met his.

"Forgot to mention that, didn't I? Bombat has an ability known as "Speed Attacker. It doesn't suffer from summoning sickness, which means it can attack once it enters the battle zone!"

Hearing those words made CJ lose all feeling in himself. He couldn't keep steady as his legs crippled beneath him.

In the end, he didn't fight it. He allowed himself to give into his weakened state and watched absentmindedly as the missiles came his way.

His few, fleeting thoughts, involved the reprising guilt he felt beforehand…

…And his will to survive no matter what.

* * *

The next thing he knew, CJ was waking up, the night sky replaced by his bedroom ceiling. His entire body was stiff and sore. He was afraid to move, in fear of impending pain from one of his limbs. So he laid there and relished at the thought that he was still alive.

"Bout time you decided to peer them eyes open." Tsume spoke up.

CJ forced his head to lean over so he could glance at the deck case on his night stand. Tsume sat on it, arms crossed and sitting patiently.

"I feel like I was hit by a truck." CJ groaned.

"Personally, I'd go with the SI Ferry Boat, but your analogy works too." Tsume quipped.

"I can't remember anything; or rather it hurts to. God my head is so sore…"

"I wouldn't worry much about that." Tsume continued. "Only thing you need to do is rest. As a first-timer to a Kaijudo Duel, you should've died from the strain you went through. But it looks like your own willpower kept you here in the world of the living just a bit longer."

"Yeah well… I refused to die, all things considered."

"And everyone appreciates you for it."

"By the way, how long have I been out…?"

Tsume pondered the thought for a moment. "At least a day or so."

CJ looked over to the clock on his nightstand, the red numbers on the clock illuminating "March 7th, 11:08PM" on the face of it.

Less than an hour until the weekend. Thank God for that he figured. He continued to lie in bed briefly, considering some things. To think so much has happened in these several days, he thought. From when his family arrived, to when he met his friends, to when he discovered Duel Masters, and the secret his family kept from him all these years.

And that night. What happened since his duel against Cindy? Are his friends okay? What about Luke…and what Mr. Wilson explained to him…?

Where does he go from here?

Testing his strength, he slowly sat up. Managing that much, he attempted to get out of bed, one foot at a time. It took a moment to regain his balance but once he did, he slowly made his way out of his room.

Walking through the tiny hallway and directly into his apartment's living room, his mother and father sat talking. Before he said anything to greet them, he stepped back. But at the same time, he took the opportunity to eavesdrop.

"…and that's what he decided." Nate said, clutching the cup of tea in his hand. "I didn't want CJ and those kids to get involved in any of this. At least not until he was older."

"At the same time, we could only keep this to ourselves for so long." Catharine mentioned as well. With Jonah still alive and looking for a way back into this world, its safe to say we know that the Guardian Creatures are in capable hands…even if its our own children."

"Part of me wishes that Robert told me about this sooner. I don't understand why he would keep this a secret from me of all people. And Jake…He seems to be deeply involved in whatever Robert's intentions are concerning the situation."

Catharine stood up and retrieved Nate's mug. "Well whatever the case may be, it can wait until the morning. Let's just be grateful that our son is safe and sound. Whatever comes of the last several days, we'll face it as a family."

Nate nodded, standing up. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Guess I just need to face facts. As much as I hate to say it, these kids have to bear our sins if either world wants a chance for survival. I just hope this generation can prevail where we failed."

"Well, I don't want to brag, but I think my son can hold his own against whatever the creature world has to offer."

"Of course, he can, because he's _my_ son." Nate embraced his wife, oblivious to the teen who slowly crept back to his room.

CJ returned to his bed and eased back into it. As he rested his head onto the pillow, he kept his gaze fixed on the deck case; the one thing that sent him on this adventure in his new home.

And the amount of responsibility it bore him.

* * *

The clock was coming up on 7AM when CJ realized he never really fell asleep. That conversation was still stuck on his mind. Tsume, if he understood right, was a Guardian Creature… whatever that meant.

He looked over at the deck and sat on the concept that Tsume and the other creatures were involved in something major, like his parents implied. It could link as to why they don't have any memories aside from being trapped in the deck cases, the way they were.

It was then he decided to talk to his parents. He sat back up, finding it easier this time around and got out of bed. He grabbed his deck case, and made his way to his bedroom door. Taking a deep breath, he turned the knob and took a step outside. As he expected his parents were already up and dressed, seemingly busier this time around than they normally would be on a Saturday.

That immediately struck him as weird. Especially seeing an extra plate set on the table. Who would be coming here this early in the morning?

"Uh…hey?" CJ spoke up.

His parents looked over. His mom continued to cook breakfast and his dad gestured a greeting. "How are you feeling?"

CJ took a moment to respond. That wasn't the reaction he expected to receive from a pair of parents who nearly lost their son in a battle for his life.

"Great…sore, but great." He lied somewhat. Physically he felt better, but mentally he was still exhausted.

"Good, because I need you to get dressed and eat something." Nate said.

"Why are we going somewhere?"

"Yup. You and your friends are going to have a first-hand experience within the DCA HQ."

Again, CJ took a moment. "Wait—!"

Before he could reply to that, the doorbell rung.

"CJ can you get that?"

Remaining skeptical all the same, CJ nodded and made his way to the door. Looking through the peep hole, once again he was surprised at the person on the other side.

He pulled the door open, finding Jamie directly in front of him.

An awkward silence shrouded the pair as they stared at one another. It was Jamie who broke the silence.

"Creep." She said.

CJ snapped back into it and rolled his eyes. "Sore Loser."


	6. The Field Trip

Chapter 6: The Field Trip

"Hey glad you could make it." Nate approached CJ from behind. "Breakfast is just about done."

"That sounds great." Jamie nodded as she entered the room. CJ stood at a loss for words, attempting to figure out why Jamie was present in his apartment on a Saturday morning well before 7:30AM.

"Uh Dad, real quick," he pulled Nate to the side. "What did I miss?"

"All of that will be explained at the table. Like I said, we only have a bit of time before we head out to the office."

Before he could get another word in, CJ watched as his father joined Jamie and Catharine at the table. Biting his tongue, CJ reluctantly joined them.

After several moments of everyone being situated, Nate began his explanation. "So, from this moment forward, you four are to begin your training to become agents for the DCA."

CJ was taken aback, even more so by Jamie's lack of expression, her attention more focused on the food before her. "Wait, seriously?"

Nate nodded. "In light of the last several days, Director Roman suggested it'd be best for you four to begin at the very least the basic training for your own protection. Jake's father has even taken things a step further, coming into contact with your principal and Mr. Davidson to have your club moved to the DCA's training facility from TCG Towers."

CJ processed the information, understanding where he was coming from. Then something clicked. "Wait a second; you say 'four,' am I missing something or…?"

"Jake doesn't need the training. He's already well versed within the DCA, already completing the basic training regiments, including hand-to-hand combat. According to his records, he preparing for the promotion test for C-Rank."

"When were we supposed to figure all that out?"

"Oh trust me, I'm learning as I go myself. But point is, what happened the other night was a grim reminder of what we're dealing with. We've already lost one of the Guardian Creatures to Jonah, one who was already treated with the contents of Project Neo."

"Guardian Creatures…?" Tsume materialized from the deck case and stared at Nate, who towered over the miniature sprite. "That term sounds familiar for some reason."

"It's because you, Blaze, Tenshi, Kage and Lancer are all a part of this group. Creatures who took it upon themselves to rise to the challenge when imminent threats plagued the Creature World. During our younger years, we've heard the legends of them, so to have them tied in this mess complicates things to say the least."

"Alright, I guess I can follow all of that. One thing still bothers me." CJ said turning towards the girl as she sipped her orange juice.

"As part of this training, all new cadets are assigned a partner. And seeing as you both are tied with the major factor in this investigation, Robert and I both agreed that you two become partners."

Jamie was the first to react to the news, choking on her juice. "I'm sorry, _what?_ "

Nate had to laugh. "Did I forget to mention that small detail?"

" _Small_? Dad, that's not small, I don't know if you noticed but we don't necessarily get along with one another."

He continued to laugh until it calmed down some. "Well I don't know what to tell you except to just deal with it for the time being." His demeanor became serious. "As long as Blaze is in Jonah's hands, Jamie is a prime target on his radar. And because she's synced with her, we know that she's also been affected by the effects of Project Neo to a smaller extent, compared to that girl whose K-Waves were completely corrupted by it. I'm only keeping you two together so I can keep an eye on the both of you.

"With all due respect—!"

"My decision is final." Nate cut Jamie off. "Besides, consider it a team exercise. You two are supposed to be teammates, so its time to start getting along."

CJ turned to his mother, who remained quiet throughout the conversation. "You're just going to let him make this decision for us?"

Catharine stood up and collected everyone's plates. "As your mother, I will give you a piece of advice. Listen to your father. Because he tends to make decisions that saves lives. Mine included."

CJ, disappointed groaned and leaned his head into his arms on the table. "Not even eight yet and I can already tell this is going to be a long weekend."

* * *

After breakfast, the trio then set out. While his father and Jamie managed to hold a conversation amongst themselves through the train ride, CJ kept himself lost in his own thoughts as they traveled down towards midtown. The thought of becoming "partners" with someone he's not exactly on friendly terms with felt like some cliché out of a tv show. Typically the two who can't stand one another end up becoming the most inseparable partners.

However, when he really thinks about it, CJ wouldn't have gone through all he did if he didn't care. If his mother said was true, maybe his dad does see something neither of them sees yet. At the end of the day, he might as well just take his word for it and see what comes out of it.

Eventually the trio approach the building of the Duel Clash Association. Nate turned back to them and smiled. "Welcome to the rest of your lives."

CJ's immediate thought to that statement was "I hope he doesn't mean that."

Nate turned back to the doorway and lead the pair through the sliding doors. Within it was a huge, spacious lobby, the sunlight from the surrounding windows coating the room in a pale blue tint. On both ends of the room, which resided a waiting area, were couches and holographic screen depicting pros and career duelists' highlights and exhibition matches respectively, while having several occupied K-Terminals for those wanting to kill time amongst themselves. Towards the far back, where pairs of escalators resided on each side, stood the information desk, where Nate lead them.

As Nate talked with the clerks about the arrangements for a private tour, CJ grabbed a magazine that sat on the holster on front of the counter. He immediately took note of the front cover, the words "Kaijudo Corner" emblazoned on the top, and five civilizations set up in a pentagon-like pattern underneath. Light stood on top of the pentagon, Nature and Water at its sides. Underneath those, Fire and Darkness respectively. Opening the brochure, he quickly skimmed through its contents, the insides giving details about the game itself, the timeline of set releases up to the current point, and some interviews of duelist worth noting.

"My brother was featured in that issue this month." Jamie said looking over CJ's shoulder. "His team placed top 4 in the European championship against Team Geki. Granted as good as he is, Team's Geki's leader is one of the top Darkness duelists in the world, so it's no surprise my brother lost to him."

CJ looked over to her. "Creep."

Jamie scoffed. "Like you're one to talk. Just trying to make conversation."

CJ closed the magazine and set it back on its stand. "That's rich. God what is he thinking?"

"He's thinking that between the both of us we can keep each other safe."

"You actually believe that? I mean, you got kidnapped and I almost _died_! How the heck can either one of us keep the other safe? I mean, we don't even like one another for starters!"

"Ok look, I don't like it either but its not like we can get out of this, now can we? So it's best that we suck it up and deal with it." Jamie stated.

"Yeah, right. Because my intentions on moving across the country was playing secret agent with a girl who can't get over the fact that I beat her in a children's card game!"

Jamie fell silent. I could tell that I struck a nerve but it was too late to take my words back. Before I could say anything, a familiar voice struck our ears.

"Vanguard of the Seven Seas! Arise and lead your army to victory: Crystal Paladin!"

A wave of cheers followed afterward, diverting the arguing teens over to the waiting area over to them. Dylan stood with Jake and Karon watching as he dueled another duelist in the lobby.

"Paladin wipes all of your blockers from the battle zones. And with none of them to keep you protected, I send Aqua Hulcus to break your last shield, and for Paladin to go in for the win!"

Another set of cheers erupted, signifying Dylan's victory. He jumped in excitement at his win. "Alright, three in a row, let's go!"

Karon put his arm on his shoulder. "Calm down."

Dylan grinned. "yeah, got it. Got a bit carried away there."

"Yeah no kidding. Can still hear your voice echo through here." Jake said rubbing his ear. "Gah, your voice is gonna haunt me."

"Oh come on, My Latin accent has the ladies swarming and the men envious. Speaking of, you're looking a little green with envy there."

"Oh you wish brainiac."

"So, I take it you guys are having fun?" CJ said as he and Jamie approached.

"Whoa dude! You're awake!" Dylan exclaimed.

"Yeah, I uh…yeah." CJ didn't have words, the smile traced on his face, signified the joy he felt seeing his friends in one peace."

"How are you feeling bro?" Jake asked him.

"I should be asking you the same thing. We were worried about you."

"Oh trust me, I've faced worse."

"I can imagine."

"It's good to see the both of you on your feet." Karon said as well.

CJ turned to Jamie, the latter of which replied to Karon. "I'm just glad things didn't get anymore worse than they already have. Although, Blaze is still missing, and I'm worried about her."

"What exactly happened to you though?" Dylan crossed his arms. "I was under the impression the Guardian Creatures were bound to the cases themselves."

Jamie shrugged. "Whatever that Luke guy did, all I know that Blaze was separated from the deck case and stolen. My deck is still intact, albeit missing my Bolshack Dragon. And since we've been separated, I've had this bad feeling that she's in danger. I don't know what exactly from, but I've been using it as motivation to save her, whatever it takes."

"Well, we're a team. Your problem is our problem." Jake reassured. "That's what Team KG stands for."

"Team KG?" CJ spoke up.

"Kaijudo Generation." Dylan said proudly. Weird name, I know, but its something we three decided on."

"By three he means himself." Karon corrected.

Dylan turned to him. "Come on bro, work with me here."

"Basically, in light of the situation, we feel as though we're inheriting a legacy left by the previous generation. We are picking up the torches left by our parents. We in a sense, represent the next generation of Kaijudo Duelists who swear to protect both Earth and the Creature world, from those who seek to do it harm. Henceforth, 'Kaijudo Generation.'" Jake explained to CJ.

Playing the name in his head he shrugged. "I mean hey, you're team leader. I'm ok with it if you are."

"I agree with him." Jamie said. "Like CJ's dad explained to me, many Guardian Creatures have fought alongside many Kaijudo Duelists for centuries to preserve balance. We're just another group picking up the torch, yet another generation. And after what we experienced over the last several days, I've decided that this is no longer a choice, it's a responsibility. The worlds are counting on what we do from here on."

She turned to CJ as she spoke those last few words, almost as if she was making sure she got her point across. The latter was reminded of his previous comment and retreated a bit. It was here that Nate, joined by Robert.

"Alright, looks like everyone's here." Robert told the group of teens. "Matters have been set to allow you five to access the restricted areas within the building. So without further ado, let's begin the tour of what your careers will be from this point forward."

Robert lead the group up the escalator and towards an elevator. Once they were all inside, he slid his ID card, the doors closing and the elevator descending downward.

"Above us are what you would typically expect to find in a Gaming corporation building. Meeting rooms, offices, and the like. However, what you will see today is what we keep secret from the public."

The elevator eventually stopped and opened, revealing to their amazement, the high-tech, highly advanced facility that was truly known as the "DCA".

"The DCA may have been founded at the turn of the century, but legends go back centuries, depicting the existence of strange beasts crossing into our worlds, and humans interacting with them in some way or another. Many urban legends and myths tell stories of gods and deities that took the forms of creatures beyond imagination. These in fact, were the inhabitants of the Creature World, crossing over to our world. For years, the game Duel Masters has been played throughout the globe, and while being a game at face value it also doubles as a test of skill, so that the DCA can see who has the potential to become someone who can participate in the secret war we fight." Robert explained.

"However, you five while showing promise, have much longer to go. If we're being honest, its because you were able to sync with the Guardian Creatures within the decks that you are a part of this. For some of you, you can blame genetics."

"Of all the things I could've inherited from you." CJ replied.

"Oh no, your mother was the Nature duelist. This one's on her." Nate countered.

"If we could get back to the topic on hand…" Robert cleared his throat. "Now that you all are up to speed, some of the test proctors have requested to see your skills in action. News of the past night have been buzzing about. And quite frankly I would like to see things myself. So how about it?"

"A chance for me to go 4-0? Yeah count me in." Dylan stretched his arms, raring to continue his streak.

"I would say he speaks for all of us, right you guys?" Jake turned to his team, who more or less agreed to the statement.

"Excellent." Robert nodded. "I shall inform them that you are on your way to the test areas. Jake, as for you, I need you upstairs. The written test for the promotion exam begins in 20 minutes."

"Yes sir." Jake nodded.

"What you tried to get out of a boring exam to come game with us? Sounds like you." CJ rolled his eyes.

Jake laughed. "You know me too well. Goes to show that nothing changes huh?"

"Got that right." CJ held his fist out. "You ace your test, I'll ace mine."

Jake returned his fist bump. "Gotcha bro. I'll catch the rest of you afterward."

"Later dude." CJ nodded as Jake broke off from the group.

To replace him, were a quartet of robotic drones that hovered towards them. They had blue circuits running across their small silver bodies, giving them an other-worldly appearance.

"I leave them in your hands." Robert nodded.

The lead droid beeped and responded. "Understood." It turned and its fellow droids took off down the hallway, with the teens in tow.

Robert and Nate watched as the kids went down the hall. "If I'm totally honest, none of this sits right with me still." Nate said.

"Like I said before, you'll get used to it." He patted him on the shoulder and walked off. Nate kept his gaze locked on them for a few seconds longer before turning back and following Robert.

* * *

CJ and his friends followed the robots down a nearby flight of stairs where rows of secluded training areas were designated. As they looked over the railing, they noticed DCA agents wearing K-VYZRs and dueling against their own personal drones. These rooms took it one step further by actually bringing the creatures to life, similar to the holographic projections back at TCG Towers.

Jamie in particular happened to notice one of the drones summoning a Bolshack Dragon against its opponent, instantly reminding her of Blaze. She felt a sensation of dismay but reminded herself that she would do everything it took to get her back.

Each of the drones took one of their duelists and lead them to open rooms for them to use. Jamie followed hers into her room and the glass door locked behind her. Her drone floated over to the other side.

"Initiating K-VYZR Operating Systems…" The drone flashed.

Jamie hooked her K-VYZR on her ear and tapped the side of it. "K-VYZR: On!"

This was the first time she found herself at the driver's seat of the K-VYZR tech, so it took her by surprise at first as the table and her deck digitally materialized before her. The warmth she felt from the dry floor beneath her caught her by surprise as well, reminding her that she's standing within the "Fire Civilization".

She shuffled her deck, and allowed the tech to set the five teal-colored shields, as her opponent's shields did the same. One thing she noticed as well, was the unique star-coated night sky and the Moon shining that the drone took on as a backdrop. Was it to indicate Light and Darkness? An odd combination, especially for two civilizations that are sworn enemies. But nonetheless, as attractive as it was, she wasn't going to let it distract her after all.

"Initiating Duel Sequence." The drone said.

"Duel Start!" Jamie responded.

* * *

Robert and Nate meanwhile entered a room that was filled with various test proctors who were monitoring each of the test takers within each respected room. Although all four of them were visible Robert and Nate both had their attentions on Jamie. With her condition and all, they were particularly interested in knowing if she could hold her own, despite the "handicap" she was presented with.

* * *

The drone began, its cards hanging on the air before it. One of the cards floated and went straight onto the table, revealing to be a Light card.

"Turn end." The drone stated for her.

Jamie nodded. "My move then." She drew and set Fire mana, as is her trademark. "I summon Deadly Fighter Braid Claw."

Braid Claw formed beside her and announced its presence with a fearless roar.

The drone blinked and drew a card from its deck. This time, setting Darkness mana, it tapped them both.

"I summon Bloody Squito. Turn end." It stated, as Bloody Squito materialized as well.

Jamie clenched her teeth lightly, acknowledging Braid's Claw necessity to attack. She was almost certain the bot played it just to counteract her rush. Reluctantly she drew and set more mana. "I summon Brawler Zyler."

Beside Braid Claw another silver-armored cyborg creature materialized, armed with a barrel on his left arm. Grasping the handle on his left arm he let out an intimidating roar as well

 _ **Brawler Zyler**_

 _ **Civilization: Fire**_

 _ **Power: 1000+**_

"Braid Claw, break its shield!" Jamie ordered, despite her slight reluctance. She watched as Braid leapt over to dive into the first shield, and for Squito, as expected to block it immediately. Both of the cards went into their respected graves, as Jamie looked on to her opponent, who didn't waste time preforming their next turn.

The drone drew and set mana. "I cast Dark Reversal. This spell allows me to retrieve one creature from my graveyard and add it back to my hand. I choose Bloody Squito. Turn end."

"Of course you do." Jamie murmured. She drew and set mana. "I summon Baby Zoppe. While all of the cards in my mana zone are Fire cards, Zoppe gains an extra 2000 power."

Baby Zoppe's blue egg materialized and hatched into the small fire bird. It glowed red, feeling the additional power being added to it.

"Acknowledged." The drone said.

"Zyler, break its shield!"

Zyler roared and aimed its cannon, shooting a fire ball which took off like a missile into the first shield on the drone's side.

 _ **Drone**_

 _ **Shields 5-4**_

"And that ends my turn." Jamie said, feeling slightly proud one of her attacks landed.

* * *

"So far so good." Robert said. "Nothing out of the ordinary as of yet."

Nate agreed. "With the amount of strain on the both of them, Jamie if anything has much more going on where she's concerned. Are you sure she should be dueling in her condition?"

"If she can't handle something like this then she won't be able to stand up against what's to come. Jonah's not the only threat that the Creature World has within it."

"Ain't that the truth." Nate crossed his arms and looked back at the screen.

"What the—ugh this stupid thing!"

Nate and Robert looked over, noticing one of the test proctor's scribbling his finger across the touchscreen of his tablet.

"What's the matter?" Robert asked as they approached him.

The test proctor looked at them and showed them the screen. "The duel I'm monitoring, I lost connection to the drone and can't regain access."

"Which one is it? We'll just have to postpone the duel until you get yourself situated." Nate suggested.

The test proctor looked at the frozen screen. "Room 3, drone #20."

"That's the one that Jamie's in." Nate realized. He looked at the screen although things seemed fine. Brawler Zyler was seen taking out one of the drone's shields with little issue from the looks of things.

"Let's keep an eye on it, it could just be a glitch on our end." He turned to the other proctors, "make sure to watch carefully and alert one of us if there's anything suspicious concerning the other test rooms."

"Understood." The other proctors acknowledged.

* * *

"Guess I was worried about nothing." Jamie said with a smirk. "I'm confident that if I don't give you time to make any substantial moves then this duel's as good as mine."

"…that seems to be the case, wouldn't it?" the drone asked her, catching her off guard.

Jamie scoffed. "Cool, guess you're more than just a robot underneath there huh?"

The drone chuckled as it drew and set mana. "Child, I am more than just a machine…I'm a survivor!"

That statement made everyone who heard it stand motionless, their blood growing cold, contrasting the shifting of colors on the drone as they began to turn yellow and purple. The blue visor on the front of it however shifted to a red color.

"I summon Skullsweeper Q!" The card was set into the battle zone and it began to glow in a purple hue. From the darkness a purple and yellow slug like insect creature materialized, with a lavender-colored saucer-like head and two yellow tendrils floating on top. Between them was a black orb emblazoned with a biohazard insignia on it.

 _ **Skullsweeper Q**_

 _ **Civilization: Darkness**_

 _ **Power: 1000**_

"Please tell me that's not what I think it is!" Nate exclaimed at the sight of the Darkness creature. "I don't care what it takes, you need to shut that match—!"

"Hold on a moment." Robert stopped him.

"Hold on?! Our tech has been hacked and our drone has just simulated a _Survivor_ creature!"

"Exactly." Robert pointed out. "Simulated. Which means that it can't cause any physical harm to her or anyone down there. Its nothing but a projection."

"Still—!"

"Being that she currently is the weakest of the five I want to see for myself if she's able to pull through against a threat like this of her own volition. You claim she has potential, I want to see it for myself." Robert cut him off.

Nate clenched his teeth. "I don't know what's happened since you came back here but its obvious that you're hiding something."

"That I am. And its classified information."

"Don't you dare start pulling rank on me! You know as well as I do the danger those abominations pose and you want to send a child up against it? We're doing this so they can defend themselves, not go and fight our war!"

"That's what _you're_ doing. Not what the DCA has planned."


	7. Beauty and the Blaze

Chapter 7: Beauty and the Blaze

Jamie examined the creature. It was definitely new to her, the biohazard symbol definitely drawing her attention. However she didn't let it distract her too much. She drew and set mana. "I summon a second Braid Claw. Zyler, attack and break his shield!"

Braid Claw re-emerged while Zyler charged his cannon and took out another shield.

 _ **Drone**_

 _ **Shields 4-3**_

The shield shards scattered, but stopped and joined back together to form a gold orb with small wings and hand-like talons and circuitry going about on it.

 _ **Kolon the Oracle**_

 _ **Civilization: Light**_

 _ **Power: 1000**_

"Shield Trigger: I summon Kolon the Oracle and tap Baby Zoppe."

Kolon lauched a lightning bolt that paralyzed the baby bird, throwing it back and twitching on the ground.

The drone drew and set mana. "Now witness, Miss Martin, the power of the Survivor Race! I summon Gigaling Q!"

Another Darkness creature arrived from within the dark background, a bronze-colored chimera, a centaur in terms of structure, with its red muscles exposed underneath the armor it wore. Black eyes covered its legs and the large spiraling tail, as its skeletal, reptilian head sported horns in place of them. On its bare red chest, it also had an orb, with the biohazard symbol, only this time, with Skullsweeper, they both began to harmonize and resonate with a purple hue.

 _ **Gigaling Q**_

 _ **Civilization: Darkness**_

 _ **Power:2000**_

Jamie knew that what was coming couldn't possibly be good.

"Skullsweeper, inherit Gigaling's slayer and attack Baby Zoppe! And activate your own ability and discard her last card in her hand!"

"Inherit?" Jamie was taken aback by the snapping of the card from her hand, and even more so when Skullsweeper was already upon its prey.

 _ **Skullsweeper: 1000**_

 _ **Baby Zoppe: 4000**_

Skullsweeper wrapped around Baby Zoppe, slowly crushing it as the little bird squirmed for dear life. Eventually they both exploded and went into their respected graves. Zoppe landed on the Explosive Fighter Ucarn Jamie was hoping to use following this turn. She looked up at the drone and the Gigaling on the other side.

"So that's how they work then… they share abilities between each other?"

"In times of conflict, relying on one another for support is the only way to achieve victory. Relying on one's own strength will be inevitable to their downfall."

Jamie drew and set mana. "Braid Claw, breaks another shield."

 _ **Drone**_

 _ **Shields 3-2**_

"You can't escape the inevitable child. My Survivors will dominate those who driven us to our lowest points." The drone drew and set mana. "I summon Grave Worm Q."

A large white worm with a red back and dozens of small legs crawled through, it's biohazard symbol radiating as well.

 _ **Grave Worm Q**_

 _ **Civilization: Darkness**_

 _ **Power: 3000**_

"Grave Worm's ability retrieves one Survivor from my graveyard." The drone explained as it retrieved Skullsweeper. "Gigaling attack Braid Claw, Kolon attacks Zyler!"

Gigaling unleashed a eerie cry as it launched its tail towards Braid Claw. It threw Braid Claw into the air, Zyler watching. Distracted it was caught off guard by Kolon, who tackled it upward, the two colliding with Braid Claw and the three exploding in the air.

Jamie drew and and set mana. "I end my turn."

The drone laughed. "Are you admitting defeat already? Is it that my creations are too much for you to overcome?" the drone drew and set mana. "I summon Gallia Zhol, Iron Guardian Q."

This time, a navy blue guardian appeared, although it also sported the biohazard symbol. It's light alternated between yellow and purple, also causing Grave Worm and Gigaling to do the same as well.

 _ **Gallia Zhol, Iron Guardian Q**_

 _ **Civilization: Light**_

 _ **Power: 2000**_

"Zhol grants my Survivors Blocker. What you now have before you are three blockers, each with the Slayer ability that can also retrieve my other Survivors from the graveyard whenever they enter the battle zone."

Jamie ignored it. She drew and set mana. "I end my turn."

The drone paused for a moment. "It seems that you need a demonstration to understand the intensity of the situation you are in." it drew and set mana. "I summon Ballus, Dogfight Enforcer Q and Bloody Squito!"

A square-shaped saucer materialized, which sported the Biohazard symbol. It too radiated at the sensing of its commrades. Bloody Squio joined alongside it, bringing the number of Blockers to five.

 _ **Ballus, Dogfight Enforcer**_

 _ **Civilization: Light**_

 _ **Power: 3000**_

"And now, I attack." The drone said. "Zhol, Gigaling, Grave Worm, break her shields! And with Ballus, they untap at the end of the turn, leaving them invulnerable for a counter attack!"

The Survivors acknowledged the command and lashed out, three shields shattering before Jamie, who stood like a statue, unfazed. The three cards went into her empty hand and she drew.

 _ **Jamie**_

 _ **Shields: 5-2**_

"You are a very fearless girl. I must say I am impressed."

"Fearless? More like insulted." She corrected it and drew.

* * *

Nate and Robert watched Jamie as she stared down her opponent and its seemingly unbeatable army. They could both tell something was new.

"Her K-Waves just spiked." Nate said, feeling the change in her person. "You knew this would happen, didn't you?"

"Some of these kids need the right push in order for them to come out on top. For the sake of everything I will push them to their limit if necessary."

The drone took a moment to process a response. _"In what regard?"_

" _You're claiming that unless I rely on others then I'm weak? That in order for me to progress in anything, I need someone to hold my hand? That I will forever need to be saved from whatever mess I get myself into?"_

Nate sighed. "Just don't kill them in the process."

Robert turned to him. "My goal is to fall before they do."

* * *

The drone laughed. "That is your own anxiety getting the better of you. That in itself proves that this bravado you are proclaiming is nothing but a front! That you are nothing but a weak—!"

Jamie's hand sparked with red electricity, as she slowly revealed the card she was about to play. An outline of a large winged creature formed behind her "I summon Scarlet Skyterror…"

She set the card on the table and the golden Armored Wyvern armed with rockets and gatling guns on its arms emerged and roared.

 _ **Scarlet Skyterror**_

 _ **Civilization: Fire**_

 _ **Power 3000**_

"I don't need evolution. I don't need to be saved. I'm fine on my own." She thrusted her hand forward. "I have a burning fire within me just waiting to be unleashed! And its by my power alone that it will burn all those who threaten me or those I care about! Scarlet Skyterror, wipe out those blockers!"

Scarlet Skyterror acknowledged Jamie's command and unleashed its barrage on the survivors, who watched helplessly as the barrage came towards them. Each and everyone of them burned them away, their screams echoing as they all faded, much to the Drone's astonishment.

"MY SURVIVORS!" it exclaimed. "How is this possible?!"

"Because, I know how to rely on myself. I refuse to be dependent on others. I'm no damsel, I'm a hero dammit!" Jamie exclaimed.

"Don't get ahead of yourself!" The drone said. It drew and in response to its rage it summoned two Skullsweepers.

Jamie drew, and with her adrenaline pumping, she kept her momentum going, revealing the three spells in her hand. "I cast two Crimson Hammers, wiping out both Skullsweepers. Then Magma Gazer, giving Scarlet Skyterror Power Attacker +4000 and Double Breaker. Go Skyterror!"

Red waves erupted before Jamie as they rushed and drowned the pair of Brain Jackers. Scarlet flew overhead and unleashed its missiles on the last two shields.

 _ **Drone**_

 _ **Shields: 2-0**_

One of the shields retaliated as it flew up, turning into an army of dark hands, capturing the Wyvern and destroying it before it could return to Jamie.

"Shield Trigger: Terror Pit. I refuse to lose to a child who's in over her head.

"Then do something about it."

The drone becoming frustrated summoned Gallia Zhol once more. "I cast Dark Reversal to retrieve Ballus from my grave."

Jamie grinned, annoying the drone further. "I swear I will rip that smug off your face."

"Try it tin can. I summon Gatling Skyterror."

Gatling Skyterror arrived to replace Scarlet, awaiting patiently for orders.

The drone grew further frustrated, knowing that Gatling could attack untapped creatures, making Ballus useless. Nonetheless, he summoned it for the sake of having two blockers. "Zhol, break her shield!"

Zhol launched itself and rammed through one of Jamie's shields.

 _ **Jamie**_

 _ **Shields 2-1**_

However, as if mirroring the previous turn, the very shield followed Zhol in a spiral pattern, until it ignited and swallowed the Guardian.

"Shield Trigger: Tornado Flame." Jamie revealed. She set the trigger and drew. "Gatling Skyterror: Direct Attack!"

Gatling Skyterror heeded the command and unleashed its barrage against the drone who was blown away from the barrage. It spiraled back and forth before dropping onto the ground and breaking from the impact.

Jamie removed her K-VYZR from her ear and walked over to the drone, clearly broken.

"So weird…" She commented, examining it. Her attention diverted when she heard the DCA officials race inside the room along Nate and Robert.

"Jamie are you alright?!" Nate asked her rather frantic.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" she answered them. "Did I pass?"

Nate was caught off guard by her question but had to laugh it off. "Yeah, lunch is on me."

"If you don't mind, I'll take this off your hands." Robert walked over and retrieved the drone from her. "I need to have a talk with R&D about this defective drone of theirs."

"Why was there something wrong with my duel?" Jamie asked.

"Wait did you think all of that was a part of the duel?" Nate asked her as they both looked at her.

"Well, yeah it seemed a bit weird but I assumed it was a part of the test. A new type of creature, and the drone playing dialogue to go along with it, it was pretty cool if I'm being totally honest."

"That's great and all but that—!"

"Was an added feature we were testing with our drones. That deck it was using was a mock deck for a set that the DCA's planning on releasing next month." Robert made a lie that made Nate turn to him in shock."

"Well, personally I think its pretty strong. I wouldn't mind getting to face off against those Survivors some more. Maybe even get to use them myself."

"We'll leave that to R&D to decide on that." Robert laughed. "However I need them to fix this drone before we discuss anything about our upcoming products for the public. If you'll excuse me."

"Oh, you sure?" Nate grabbed his arm. "I was planning on taking them to that restaurant we were talking about the other day." Nate said.

"Really, I'm fine. You guys have fun." Robert reassured. "If anything I'll get Jake to bring me back some pieces of Yellowtail."

"Alright your loss." Nate released him and watched as Robert exited the room with the drones.

"Is…everything alright with you two?" Jamie asked him.

"Yeah…just great." Nate said, going to reach for his phone. "Uh, actually something just came up upstairs that I need to take care of. Uh…how to do this…wait up on CJ and the others, I will text him the address for the restaurant I was planning on taking you guys and I will be sure to join you guys once I take care of this."

Before Jamie could agree, Nate was already racing out of the room, leaving Jamie there, wondering what he was rushing off to do.

* * *

Robert entered the elevator and dialed a specific code on the pad before him. The elevator went even further down than before and eventually stopped. When the doors opened Robert began to trek down the dim-lit hallway while he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"It's me."

" _Calling to give me a progress report on my acting?"_ Luke asked him on the other end of the line.

"You tried to hard to portray him. More importantly, did you get the data you needed?"

" _Only following up on your performance from before. And yes, I did. Miss Martin's little spike in K-Waves during that time definitely showed a bit of the Neo Waves mixed in. She has a couple more spikes like that the two will be able to sync to one another in no time."_

"Excellent. And what about Cindy?"

" _Itching to break out those Survivors you gave her. As am I. Brian and Megan both said they're out after what happened the other night, and quite frankly I don't blame them. Those are two people whose blood I don't want on my hands."_

"Its fine. We were only able to recover three of the Evolutionary Survivors anyway. We have all the tools we need to begin the fall of the DCA and the exposure of the Creature World to the public." Robert stopped at the door that blocked his way. He placed his hand on the reader and typed in a subsequent code. "Contact me if any further changes arise."

He hung up and walked inside the room where across from him rested a cell. He knocked and the prisoner on the other side looked up at him. His hair was long and messy, his beard scruffy and outgrown. He stood up weakly and his red hate-filled eyes locked onto his captor.

"Back again to remind me of how much of a fool I am, Bobby?" the man asked him spitefully.

"I'm here to try this again." He responded. "Because for someone who I left to drown within the seas of the creature world, you have a very bad habit of remembering details concerning a certain Emperor."

"For the last time I know _nothing_ about what the Cyber Lords are planning where Earth is concerned. Not anymore than what you people managed to figure out after all these years."

"You have spent over a decade stranded in that world. You cannot sit there and tell me that you learned nothing."

"I spent a decade in that world because someone wanted to be sure that I _stayed dead_." He countered. "And then when he found out I was alive he threw me in this prison for years, interrogating me in the same ridiculous method because he thinks I'm a spy!"

"Emperor Quazla is not a merciful person, we both know that. If it were up to him we'd all be dead. Especially after what _you_ did."

"And for that I deserve to be in a prison cell, but what you're trying to do is stupid beyond anything I could ever dream."

"I will do whatever it takes to make sure that Earth is safe. If that means reforming the DCA and completely blowing the Creature World from existence, then so be it. That world has brought us nothing, but heartache and tragedy and I would give _anything_ to be free from it."

"Including manipulating my son to do your dirty work?"

Robert grew quiet. "You left him for your monsters."

"At least mine didn't have to grow up with one."

Robert turned back, realizing his efforts were futile. As he walked, Jonah called out to him.

"Piece of advice, Bobby: If because of your madness you get my son killed, I swear I will pay you back for every year you stole from me."

Robert turned back when he reached the doorway. "No amount of time will suffice to the pain I've already had to deal with." And with that he locked the door to the prison cell.

* * *

Nate opened a draw in his desk and took out a red notebook inside of it. It was a journal he kept, one that depicted the adventures if the creature world he had when he was younger. He opened the book to a specific page, and took the card that was inside of it. The art depicted a bronze-armored dragon with a trio of heads on its armor, one on its chest and two on its shoulders.

" _You must have much confidence that she can handle Blaze's true form."_ A deep voice spoke through the silence in the room.

Nate put the book down and reached for the deck case he kept hidden behind his jacket. He slid out a specific card and allowed it to leap from his hand and transform into a creature. The creature was an armored purple-scaled dragon with a white beard hanging from its muzzle, and white hair draped from underneath its helmet.

"That girl stared into the eyes of hell and told it to get lost." Nate explained. "Confidence doesn't even define my opinion of her right now."

"Indeed, she has potential, but old friend, you must also remember she is still a child. Your own son nearly perished from the strain of summoning Creatures to this world."

"But he didn't. And you sensed it as well Draconis, that girl's K-Waves are strong for a Fire Duelist of her age and experience."

"That's called passion, Nathan." Draconis told him. "Fire Civilization warriors wear that proudly even to death. And without a doubt, that girl, with your guidance, will be able to draw out Blaze's full potential as you have in the past. But only, with your guidance."

Nate looked back at the card. "I know. When she was Jabaha, Blaze sacrificed her power to take down the Survivors that hunted us. If it wasn't for her, the Fire Civilization would've been decimated for sure."

"That in mind, if you want to repay her for her bravery, then you need to make sure her new partner is worthy of such a responsibility. And that goes for your own son as well. Like how you and your wife proved to be a formidable force, so these two children be as well.

"Hey, don't go of trying to marry my kid off so quick there." Nate told him. "Let him be a kid a bit longer."

Draconis crossed his arms. "As if fate has given him the option to." The dragon then began to glow red and revert to its card form.

Nate took Star-Cry Dragon off the desk and set it back into his deck. He then walked over to his window and looked out at the bright spring day, appreciating the rather calm, tranquil scenery. He looked down, seeing the five teenagers walking out of the building, seemingly recalling their respected tests that they each took. His phone then chimed and he looked at it.

CJ: _Dad, what's the address of that restaurant you mentioned? Also do you want us to bring you anything?_

Nate texted him back. _"Sushi Yasuda, East 43_ _rd_ _street. And you don't have to, gonna wrap things up here and meet u all over there."_

CJ: _K then, see you in a bit._

Nate put his phone back into his pocket and continued to watch them until they mixed in with the busy crowd. He took a deep sigh. "Fate can bend the rules for one afternoon, can't it?"

* * *

"Oh ho ho man that looks good!" Dylan clapped his hands as the bowl of ramen came his way. "I-ta-da-ki-ma-su!" he said in a sing-song voice.

Jake cleared his throat. "Dylan, did you forget that quick?"

Dylan looked up and sighed. "Not even one bite before we get to work?" he rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone.

"No rest for the weary." Lancer spoke up from his deck case.

"Yeah yeah, you weren't the one up half the night going through layers of firewalls."

"What do you mean?" CJ asked, breaking his chopsticks apart.

"I had Dylan help me do some snooping." Jake explained. "Something about that guy Luke and everything that's happened up to this point has been bothering me."

CJ was about to slurp his noodles but stopped before he could pop the food into his mouth. "Like what?"

Dylan set his phone on the table and slid it into the middle of them, the holographic screen popping up for them to see. Holographic versions of Luke, Cindy, Brian and Megan all appeared, each of them giving the option to access records about them.

CJ looked at Jake. "What is all this?"

"What do you think bro? Official DCA records on those guys we faced off." Dylan said, rather proudly.

"Ok…?" CJ said, not really getting it.

"The ones the DCA keeps for people of interest." Jake clarified.

CJ's eyes widened. "Whoa hold up! Are you saying these guys are DCA Agents?"

"More like ones who were related to the DCA. Brian and Megan Warner; aka The Twilight Siblings as they're known as in the dueling world. Like us they were cadets, and they were pretty good too. Thing is they were dropped from the program after Brian beat the crap out of an instructor he claimed was getting a little too 'friendly' with his sister." Jake began.

"Goes to show creeps are everywhere in this day and age." Jamie said. CJ threw a glare at her taking her comment as a bit of an insult.

"Then we have Cynthia 'Cindy' Mcknight. Daughter of two DCA Agents who lost their lives during what was called the 'Survivor Uprising' in the Creature World. A simple recon mission turned deadly. Instead of compensating for her loss, the DCA covered up the event as if nothing happened." Dylan added. "Ever since she's been totally hellbent on getting justice for her parents."

"That's not what she told me." Jamie spoke up.

"What's up?" Jake asked.

"She told me that her parents learned about Project Neo and were killed because of that. I wouldn't be surprised if the DCA made that story up to cover what they really did.

"You really think they would resort to something like that?" CJ asked.

"Would it surprise you that they would be keeping secrets to cover their image?" Jamie asked him back. "After all the world knows them as a gaming company, not a government taskforce."

"I guess you got a point but that would mean that our parents and your brother would be keeping secrets from us then."

Jamie scoffed. "Jason is a terrible liar. I've known of his part with the DCA for a long time. Jake and I became friends because of our ties with the DCA."

"She's not wrong there." Jake supported. "Five years and still going strong."

"He's not wrong there." Jamie nodded.

"There's still Luke Collins." Karon noted. "How does he tie in all of this?"

Dylan swiped to his info. "What Mr. Wilson told us essentially. Genius hacker, broke into the DCA, wants revenge for the disappearance of his mad scientist pops, who is apparently alive and wanting to bust a hole into this world with his army of Ninja Turtles." He explained.

Karon looked over to CJ, the latter making a unique face. Instead of calling him out he popped a piece of sashimi in his mouth.

"Luke is a special case." Jake noted. "The fact that he was able to break in and steal highly classified data in a short amount of time, leads me to believe that this was an inside job."

"Considering the details, that wouldn't be surprising." Jamie commented. "Only question is who?"

"Or what their endgame is." Karon added. "Exposing the DCA is one thing but that girl forced CJ into a Kaijudo Duel. She had full intentions of unleashing Creatures into the real world."

"Maybe that's it! What if they're trying to amass an army of creatures into the world, wreck a good portion of the city and expose the DCA?"

"I don't know..." Jamie said.

"Before you say it I know its insane but hear me out—!"

"No I mean…Luke doesn't seem like someone who'd willingly kill just to kill." Jamie explained.

"I gotta agree." CJ added. "Wow, first time. Anyway, that night, Luke helped me—ow!" he leaped up. CJ threw a glare at Jamie, who slightly gave the notion for him to keep quiet.

"Uh…never mind…"

"Luke actually showed concern when I was captured by them. He knew the effects that the program would have on me since I was synced to Blaze. I have a feeling that he genuinely cared about how it was affecting me."

"Maybe being synced to the Guardian Creatures carries more risks than we thought initially." Dylan wondered. "Any input on it Lancer?"

"Can't say for sure. I wouldn't necessarily object to it however, no matter how suspicious his behavior may appear."

"Talk about Stockholm syndrome. And you call me the creep." CJ said.

It earned him another kick to the shin.

"Guys, we need to focus!" Jake snapped. "At the end of the day, Luke is getting help from inside the DCA. Why that person is helping him, is anyone's guess. But before anything like the other night happens we need to address it here and now."

CJ wanted to say something, but was reminded by Robert's words. He had to keep the knowledge of Luke and his relationship a secret for the sake of both worlds. Still it bothered him that he was keeping a major detail from his best friend for reasons unknown.

Just as he was about to renege on his promise, the door to the restaurant opened. Nate stumbled in, excited to see them still sitting in the restaurant.

"Thank god I was able to catch up to you guys. How's the food? Any good?"

A unified approval from the teens was enough to make him feel good, especially as he essentially used them as guinea pigs.

"So what are you guys up to, how did your test—" Nate stopped talking, noticing Dylan's phone.

Dylan quickly swiped the phone from the table. "The test was fine! Totally aced it myself, no sweat."

"Yeah…okay. Guessing it was the same for the rest of you guys?"

Another unanimous answer.

"Ok…yeah that's great."

"Um…dad?" CJ asked him. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, just great." He took a seat and took a deep sigh. "None of you grow up, okay? Enjoy your youth while you can."

"Dad," CJ brought the plate of sushi over to him. "Just take one."

Nate looked over and happily obliged, following up with a look at the menu on the table.

If he was certain about anything today, it would be that fate wasn't going to ruin this moment for him.

* * *

After lunch, Dylan managed to talk the group into heading back to TCG Towers for some quick matches with the locals and so Nate departed from the group and left the teens to their own muses. They spent the remainder of the afternoon getting whatever leftover urges out before they broke up for the evening. Homework beckoned for them so they all agreed to call it an early night.

"I never really thanked you, did I?" Jamie asked CJ as they entered their apartment building.

"For what?"

"For actually coming to save me…"

CJ scoffed. "Yeah, if you wanna call being scared out of my mind an act of rescuing."

"Fact is it was brave. If I'm being honest, I didn't expect it."

"Neither did I. I'm sorry, by the way."

"For what?"

"For thinking that it was your fault that Jake ended up hurt, and everything happening."

"Well, I don't blame you. I did act rash. Just that a team is as strong as its leader. And I'm the type who doesn't like to rely on people, so…the idea that I was the only one without an Evolution Creature, made me feel like a weak little girl in a way."

"And a weak little girl you ain't." CJ crossed his arms. "At least, that's what my Dad thinks of you."

"Well you're not to bad yourself. Speaking from experience, of course." Jamie said with a smirk.

"So you admit that you lost against a newbie?"

"I may have lost the battle but the war will be mine."

"Yeah, we'll see about that Partner."

Jamie stopped herself and repeated the word. "Partner…"

"Yeah… after all we're partners now."

The elevator opened and the pair walked in. As the door closed, Jamie turned to him, her expression beginning to shift.

"You know who the mole is." She stated.

CJ turned to her and her expression made him grow cold. "How did you get that assumption?"

"Earlier before, you were going to tell them Luke helped you save me."

"Well yeah before you stopped me!"

"That has to be it… it was him!"

"Jamie what are you going on about?"

"During my test! My drone was hacked into, it started speaking to me, using these 'Survivor' creatures, I don't know—point is! Something was off between your dad and Mr. Wilson earlier and then your dad suddenly had to run off and take care of something."

"Okay…?"

"Back when Jake dueled Luke the first time, he knew more about the situation than I did. Jake knows more about the DCA than _any_ of us, he even had Dylan hack into their database to get data on Luke and his team."

"Okay…?"

Jamie paused and sighed. "God, you are slow."

"Just get to the point!"

"Jake's father is plotting something against the DCA, isn't he?"

CJ grew cold. "I…I—!"

"That has to be it. Mr. Wilson had Luke steal the decks, he had him duel Jake to kill any suspicions tied to him, that's why Luke cared about my wellbeing because he couldn't afford me dying as a result."

"Whoa, that's a crazy conclusion you're jumping to!"

"And let me guess; he doesn't want any of us, not even Jake, to know because it'll mean the fate of the worlds?"

CJ grew quiet, his expression confirming her suspicions. "Why do you know all of this?"

"Because like my brother you are a terrible liar."

The doors to the elevator opened and an explosion from down the hallway knocked them off their feet.

"What was that?!" CJ screamed, his ears ringing. He looked towards the direction of the smoke and immediately realized the source.

"MOM! DAD!" CJ struggled to get on his feet, Jamie recovering quicker and helping him up. Covering their faces from the smoke they ran as fast as they could to the burning apartment, only making it to the doorway due to the flames that blocked their path.

Amongst the smoke laid a gaping hole in the wall, and on the other side of it was Cindy standing on top of a huge green serpent-like creature with blazing fire-like appendages extending from its slim, exposed body.

And just barely noticeable was his father, unconscious behind him.

"Let me go!" CJ tried to fight Jamie off of him as he fought hard to run into the apartment. "Dad no! No! God please let me go! Jamie Get off me! Please…!"

However, she wouldn't release him, fighting back tears with her grip growing tighter around him.

Cindy watched, amused by his struggle, as her creature backed off the building and began to put distance between them.

CJ's screams only grew louder, eventually contesting with the sirens of the emergency vehicles below.

Nate's vision slowly came into focus, his disorientation amplified by the headache he was experiencing. He pushed himself upright and took deep breaths as he came back to reality.

"Where am I…?"

"What I've called Hell for the last fifteen years…"

The familiar voice instantly snapped him back to reality. He turned around and saw his cellmate sitting in the corner with a humored smirk on his face.

"Jonah…?"

The man nodded. "Alive and kickin'."


	8. The Will to Survive Part 1

Chapter 8: The Will to Survive Part 1

His mother called this a new adventure…new friends, new city, new experiences…those thoughts in mind, he looked forward to jumping into whatever adventure New York would offer him…

"JAKE STOP!" He screamed, throwing the door to the roof wide open. The shining light of Alcadeias' presence along with the trio of La Ura Giga and a Dia Nork crushed the shadow that began to develop from CJ's exhausted person.

Jake looked over his shoulder, taking his attention from Luke, who barely could stand himself. Anger and pain was riddled on the water duelist's face.

"Please…don't do something you can't come back from." CJ pleaded. "It's over."

"Over…?" Luke asked, mustering strength to utter the word. "Don't make…me laugh. It's not over until he pays for _everything_ he's done! Q-TRONIC HYPERMIND!"

The towering creature responded, readying itself to attack.

"JAKE!" CJ stared in horror as the giant Survivor unleashed its tendrils directly at Jake.

A new adventure…how CJ regrets those thoughts now…

* * *

 _ **[Several Hours Earlier…]**_

* * *

"You had no intention of telling Jake about his father, do you?" Jamie asked, her and CJ wrapped in blankets while sitting on the back of an ambulance outside their building. The block was taped off by city officials with news stations on the opposite side covering the news story of the incident."

"Can…can we not just talk about this right now?" CJ asked her softly.

Jamie nodded. "I'm sorry. If it makes you feel better, I'm scared too."

"What makes you think I'm scared?"

"I don't know…all I know is that you need someone right now. Even if I can't imagine what you're going through."

CJ sat quiet and grew a smile. "This your way of trying to start a conversation again?"

"Maybe. Or it could be me trying to give this 'partners' thing a shot." Jamie said, growing a smile as well. Her smile grew smaller as something caught her attention.

CJ turned back and noticed a beat-up gray doll sitting on the side of the tire. He got up from the ambulance and picked up the odd horse-shaped doll.

"Well now…this is random." He said, examining it.

"Maybe someone dropped it during the explosion?" Jamie wondered. "What with the commotion and everything going on."

CJ shrugged. "Yeah, possibly."

"… _Chris…"_ a shrill voice suddenly spoke up.

The pair froze and oddly enough their gazes turned to the doll.

The doll blinked. "Chris…?"

Jamie and CJ both shrieked and threw the doll back on the ground, clearly freaked out.

"Okay, yeah, now I'm scared!"

"Great, didn't like being the only one freaked out here!" Jamie said, equally shaking.

"Chris…mom…" the doll spoke. "Mommy…safe."

The doll actually stood on its four legs, with the very front hooves hanging above the droopy donkey head. The small beady eyes and stitched mouth moved slightly as the doll essentially crawled to them. "Mommy…safe. Mommy safe…"

Amongst their episode, the words the doll spoke started to click. "Wait… 'Mommy safe'…?"

CJ started to repeat the words in his head and realized what was happening. "Did…my mom send you?"

"Mommy safe! Mommy safe!" the doll repeated excitedly. "Master Schuka protect Mommy!"

A huge sigh of relief came over him. He didn't know who 'Schuka' was, but if he had to make a wild guess, it was a Creature his mother had some affiliation with.

"That's awesome!" Jamie agreed. "Where did she go?"

The doll took a moment. "Junkatz not sure. But Junkatz not worry. Master Schuka will protect Mommy!"

Jamie, humored by Junkatz's mannerism turned to CJ. "Aww he's so cute. He's as creepy as you are."

CJ glared at her. "Shut it hothead."

"Chris…?" Junkatz spoke up, finally reaching the pair. "Mommy says not to worry. Mommy says she will be back with Daddy soon."

Jamie could barely contain her snickering. "Oh man, I love this little thing!"

CJ picked Junkatz up and sat him in Jamie's lap. "Cool, then you're on babysitting duty."

"Wait what?" Jamie stopped laughing. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that we need to find Cindy. We find her, we can reach both of my parents."

"And that's all well and good but think about this for a second."

"I've had the last 45 minutes to think this over. Dad's been kidnapped, Mom's out missing, my _apartment_ is up in flames…and my best friend's dad is behind all of this. I…I just want all of this to end."

"And trust me, I get that; but for our sake, we can't do this on our own." Jamie noted. "We need our team, don't we?"

CJ stood quiet for a moment, and then nodded. "Yeah, we do."

Jamie smiled. "Alright then. Now let's do this."

* * *

Nate allowed himself to lean into the wall and slide down it. He took a deep breaths, ran his hand down his face, anything it would take to help him contemplate who was in front of him.

"What's the matter Nate? You look like you've seen a ghost." Jonah said.

Nate peeked between the opening in his hand. "How?"

"How what? How am I alive? How did I end up here? I have all night to answer any questions you may have so get comfy. We're gonna be here for a while."

Nate's hand dropped into his lap. He grinned and let out a chuckle. "This isn't happening now." His chuckle began to turn in to hysterical laughter. He rose up and kicked the wall furiously, his laughter turning into violent grunts and eventual screams of anger and tears. Eventually he stopped and returned to his original spot, the wall above him having a noticeable shoeprint engraved in it.

"Hard to take in, isn't it? That's exactly how I felt when he left me to die. How I felt when he locked me down here and accused me of being a spy. How I felt when I learned that he manipulated my son and turned him into a puppet for his endgame."

"What you did to those creatures is unforgivable." Nate looked at him.

Jonah quickly snapped back. "Being locked away for my crimes is one thing, the death penalty I can understand as well… but as both a scientist _and_ a father, having your research _and_ only child be manipulated for someone else's benefit…no one deserves that kind of punishment."

"So what then. Now that we know that Robert is the one behind this, just what will he gain from all of this?"

"What every xenophobe with the power of an army in his pocket wants: The eradication of the unknown."

Nate stood quiet for a moment and examined Jonah. His demeanor was serious, honest even.

"What happened to you after all this time?"

"A lot." Jonah stated. "I could bore you with the details but before that I need you to promise me something."

"What's that?"

"Don't let him kill my son. He's the last thing I have left anchoring me to this world."

"Tell me what happened to you and I'll consider it."

Jonah smirked. "Of course, you haven't changed a bit. Fair enough." He stood up and stretched. "As you remember, I grew obsessed with the power of the Creatures of that world, and I've manipulated their geneology and attempted to force the evolutionary process between them. But none of you ever knew the real reason as to why I began to do so."

"Because you were obsessed with power and wanted to become as strong as possible."

"And then what? I'm not some evil super villain out of a Doctor Who episode Nate, I had no intentions on world domination."

"Then why then?"

"The Omnistrain." Jonah said. "An ancient bacteria found deep within the Creature World. For a moment, I actually thought that it could be used to enforce the prowess on our Guardian Creatures so we could keep the Emperor of the Water Civilization in check. However like any scientist, I had to experiment. And so I did. Some creatures would succumb to the bacteria, others would survive. The biggest breakthrough would be the ability to share their powers between themselves. Just when I thought we found a perfect way to counter the Emperor, Robert discovered the project."

"And that's when you unleashed the monsters on us."

" _That's_ when he demanded that I turn my research over to him. I created the Survivors to police the creature world, but he wants to outright destroy everything."

Nate grew silent. "That's why he stayed behind when we escaped."

"So there would be no witnesses when he would kill me and steal my research. And I'm assuming you know the rest. Robert took my research to Roman and they created Project Neo as an extension. Five Guardian Creatures, including your Blaze, and his Tsume, were sealed away in specialized Deck Cases to be experimented on and turned into war machines for the DCA to destroy everything related to the Creature World once and for all."

"But why? I just don't understand."

"Because like I said. Fear of the unknown. Instead of learning from that world we instead want to wipe it from existence. You know, I know I missed this 'cybernetic revolution', but its sickening to know that us humans want to destroy the very world that _gave_ us this technology in the first place. Ironic, huh?"

Nate tried to process everything he was hearing, trying to make sense of everything. "I…I just can't…"

"Sorry that you had to learn this from me of all people." Jonah came off rather sympathetic. "But you of all people needed to know the truth."

"Tell me how to stop him."

"Promise me you'll protect my son."

"I don't have time for this!"

"AND NEITHER DO I!" Jonah roared louder, quieting Nate. Jonah calmed down and repeated his statement softly. "Promise me, you'll protect my son, and I'll get us out of here."

Nate stood quiet and swallowed hard, considering the risk his next few words would present.

"I promise…"

* * *

Q-Tronic Gargantuan flapped its blazing wings, slowly beginnings its descent down to an abandoned industrial yard along the outskirts of the city. Luke and Robert were below to greet her and once she came to a safe distance, Q-Tronic Gargantuan dissipated and she landed, staggering as she hit the ground.

"Easy now." Luke said, helping her.

"These survivors are amazing!" Cindy exclaimed. "So much power, the DCA won't stand a chance."

"With Nate incapacitated, Roman will be none the wiser to an attack." Robert explained.

"Just say the word and Gargantuan and I will go give them…a…" Cindy's voice trailed off and her eyes started to roll back before she started to collapse. Luke reacted by catching her.

"Whoa, Cindy, you okay?" Luke asked. He put his hand on her forehead and pulled it back. "You're burning up!"

"God I think I'm getting sick…" Cindy said with an annoyed tone of voice. "Started getting lightheaded out of nowhere."

"Side effects of the Omnistrain." Robert explained. "They should pass once your K-Waves completely Sync with your Survivor."

"Yeah… that's great and all but I'm gonna lie down before this gets worse."

"Yeah, no problem. You've done your part for now." Luke reassured her, leading her through the entrance of the building.

Inside, Luke already had a workstation set up, similar to the one he had before in their previous location. The value of DCA-modified Water tech, allowing for portable labs to be built in any space in a short span of time. A sofa was stationed nearby and Cindy took the liberty of claiming it before her fever developed further.

"Get some rest, okay? I'll go get you some water or something to cool off."

Cindy smiled weakly. "Since when did you become sympathetic? Don't worry about me…just do what you have to do." She got comfortable and turned over on her side, closing her eyes.

Luke moved the hair from Cindy's face as she slowly drifted to sleep. He walked over to the foot of the sofa and grabbed a blanket and draped it over her. He made his way back outside, where his caring demeanor for his friend shifted into a subtle rage.

"So, when were you going to tell us about this?"

"Does it matter?" Robert asked him. "A cold is nothing compared to the weight the downfall of the DCA will bring."

"It would matter if she dies from this thing. Or any of us for that matter."

"I assure you, Cindy is very powerful for her age. Just like her parents…" Robert's voice trailed. "Just know that I wouldn't put you all in any danger unless I was also willing to go through it myself."

Robert reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved a green card, the Survivor and Evolution Symbols on the side of it. "The DCA has stolen so much from me. And I will do whatever it takes to bring down everything tied to it." He looked up. "You should know that I can tell when you're hiding, Catharine."

Catharine moved from the shadows of a nearby rooftop, her expression showing anger and disgust. "I can't believe you…"

"Trust me, its nothing personal. You and Nate both know how important I feel about this."

"Then you could've came to us for help instead of kidnapping my husband!" She snapped. "I'm not proud of everything the DCA's done in the past but I am strong enough to support my husband and my child into hoping they can fix their mistakes."

"Is that not what I'm doing?"

"You intend on destroying everything we've fought so hard to protect. And you're willing to put our children's wellbeing in the way of that. Our friends as well, twisted by your manipulation. Does Janet know about what you're planning?!"

"She doesn't need to get involved."

"As her husband she has the right to know."

"You and I both know I won't let you live to tell her that."

A sudden chuckle echoed through the dark night. "My good sir, I must say you must truly be a fool if you think I would let you bring harm to my Mistress."

Luke felt a cold chill strike through him and instinctively he jumped back as the creature landed behind him. Robert stayed, unfazed by the sudden appearance.

"It's been a long time, Duke of Amneisa." Robert said, acknowledging the human-sized creature.

The Dark Lord stood upright, a purple-skinned humanoid creature with navy-blue and gray armor and a monstrous-looking mouth along its torso. Its red cape-like tattered wings rested along its back as it crossed his arms.

"Indeed it has, old friend. At least by these circumstances, I wish I could call you that." Schuka said.

"Understandable." Robert acknowledged. "Never did I imagine we'd be standing on opposing sides like this."

"It doesn't have to be like this, Robert." Catharine began to plead. "Just tell me where my husband is and we can work things out, I promise you. No one has to get hurt."

"By then it'll be too late." Robert said. "Quazla is on the move and if we—if _I_ don't do something everything will be wiped out."

Schuka scoffed. "Nonsense. The Survivor Uprising may have been started by you Earthlings but Emperor Quazla has more trying matters to attend to right now. Best put your conspiracy theory to bed and stop this silly crusade."

Robert took the card and extracted it from his pocket. His hand sparked with a green energy and he turned to the Dark Lord. "'Silly crusade', you say? More like a long, overdue revolution…"

The energy sparked around the card and Robert tossed the card above them. Schuka immediately dove towards Catharine and took to the sky to avoid what was to come about. As hard as the Dark Lord ran, the bright neon-green light still washed over him, grabbing his attention. The pair turned back once reaching a safe distance, hearing the pained, grotesque cry of whatever it was that was just summoned.

"Are you unharmed Mistress?" Schuka asked Catharine.

"I will be when I find Nate. Do you think what he said about Quazla is true? Is he planning something?"

"I wish I knew the answer to that. My parents have had interacted with Quazla recently but nothing that would make me suspect foul play of any kind towards you Earthlings."

"Guess we'll just have to worry about that when the time comes. But now that I know Robert's the one pulling the strings here, next stop is the DCA. Best thing we can do is warn Roman of what's coming."

"I concur. Perhaps we will find Master Nathaniel as well."

"I hope as well."

The green light died down and exhausted by the summoning of the creature Robert dropped to one knee, panting heavily. He turned to Luke, who had his arms crossed. "Like I told you… I'm not making you take any risks I'm not willing to do as well."

Luke nodded slightly and pulled him up. "Duly noted."

"We need to catch up to Catharine."

"And Cindy?" Luke asked, looking back to her.

"She can handle herself." Robert told him.

Luke turned back to him and sighed. "Alright then." He reached into his deck and pulled out a card, summoning Legendary Bynor. The pair jumped onto the creature and took off into the skies, heading straight towards the inner city.

* * *

Jake, Dylan and Karon stood out front of the DCA building, catching a glimpse of the green light that went off from a distance.

"There a concert going on tonight?" Dylan crossed his arms.

"That's in the direction of that old junkyard." Karon noted. "Who'd host a concert out there?"

"Hey I don't judge." Dylan threw his hands up.

An eerie screech echoed from said direction, silencing the commotion in the surrounding area. It was almost as if the entirety of Manhattan was put into a standstill.

"That…was definitely not a good sign." Jake said, startled by the noise.

"Like I said…not judging anyone here." Dylan reiterated.

Jake heard a chime from his phone and and he reached for it. He pressed the green button on the screen and brought it to his ear.

" _Please tell me you heard that just now!"_ Jamie's voice exclaimed immediately.

"Jamie?! Oh man, thank god you're okay! Where are you?!"

" _With CJ and Junky. We're making our way to the direction of that green light."_

"Junky…? Nevermind that, we're on our way towards you guys then."

" _We can handle this. Just focus on protecting the DCA building. Whatever that thing was just now is probably gonna try and make its way towards it."_

"Jamie you know I can't leave you to do this without back up."

" _I'm not doing this alone. And besides, we're screwed if the DCA goes down. You three can put up a better fight in case we screw up."_

"Jamie you can't really expect me to—!" Jake cut himself off, being surprised by the dial tone. He gritted his teeth and came close to throwing his phone on the ground.

"So what's the plan?" Karon stopped him before he could act.

Jake forced his composure back and turned to him. "I'll get in touch with my father and we'll move on from here. In the meantime, go inside and see if there's anything we can do to help."

"Sounds like a plan." Dylan acknowledged. He and Karon headed inside, leaving Jake turning back to the direction where the light shone.

"My suggestion is to focus on the task at hand." Tenshi said, materializing on Jake's shoulder. "Lest we need a repeat of the last time you let your feelings get the better of you."

"She needs my help though…" Jake said.

"A soldier can't advance if you're constantly shielding them." Tenshi added.

Jake clenched his fist in slight frustration, but released it, feeling the vibration of his phone once again along with a chime. He looked at the message and his demeanor changed.

"It's time." Jake said.

Tenshi looked at him and nodded. "Understood."

Jake then looked out in the distance and saw what resembled a winged whale approaching from the distance. That in mind he began to make his way into the building.

* * *

"Junkatz, you sure this is where that light came from?" CJ asked as he and Jamie stopped in front of the abandoned yard.

"Junkatz's new name is Junky," it reminded CJ once again. "Junky smells Mommy's K-Waves. Mommy's K-Waves stopped here."

"Well, it's a start." Jamie pointed out.

"You two be careful." Tsume pointed out as well. "This place doesn't sit right with me.

"Yeah tell me about it. Something in the air's making me feel nauseous." CJ added. "Whoa!" CJ ducked, narrowly avoiding a small pipe careening its way over his head.

"Who's there?!" Jamie exclaimed, turning her attention to said direction.

In response, she heard heavy breathing coming from said direction. Struggling to stay on her feet, Cindy appeared, her breathing labored and her face flushed.

"It's her!" Jamie realized.

Cindy smirked. "Sorry to say…but you're too late. They already left for the DCA."

"Where did you take my Dad? Where is he?"

"Somewhere where he can't interfere with our objective… Tonight is the night we will bring an end to the DCA's corruption once and for—." A violent cough erupted from Cindy, causing her to drop to her knees and hug her sides in pain.

"I don't have the patience for these stupid games!" CJ stomped forward but Jamie grabbed him.

"Let's just go." Jamie said. "She's in no shape to do anything to us."

CJ looked back at her and sighed. "Yeah, guess you're right." He turned back and started to walk, with Jamie following him.

At that moment Jamie felt something and without warning, threw Junky towards CJ. Junky's immediate squeal caused CJ to react and catch the doll and watch as a red, transparent dome formed between them before fading. CJ reached out to Jamie, but instantly felt the heat of the dome reflect his hand back.

Jamie, realizing what was happening, turned to see a duel table in front of her, with Cindy steadying herself on her respected table.

"Whatever it takes…I'll do whatever it takes to see the DCA fall…" Cindy looked up at Jamie, her irises turning red, matching the small streak of blood coming from her lip. "I'll do whatever it takes to bring my parents' murderers to justice!"

CJ was left without words, seeing Cindy's resolve and risking everything for this to go through.

"I'll handle her." Jamie said. "You go and help Jake and the others." She took her deck out and sat it onto the table.

"I can't leave you here! You have no idea how much stress this will do to you, it can very well kill you, you know!"

Jamie raised her hand and snapped her fingers. Like Cindy before her, a Duel Field sparked to life and enveloped Cindy's, making the red dome slightly more visible.

"How…?"

"Like I said, I'll handle her. I promise she's not gonna beat me."

CJ grew quiet, staring at the girl on the other side. "If it makes you feel better… I'm scared too."

Jamie turned to him and smiled. "That your way of being supportive?"

"Maybe. Or it could be me giving this 'partners' thing a shot."

Jamie drew her hand as the shields materialized before her. "We'll need to work on that."

"Yeah…okay." CJ nodded. He turned, giving her one final look as she turned her own attention to Cindy. With that small sense of reassurance in mind, he and Junky took off towards the DCA.

"Ready to get this started?" Cindy asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Jamie said.

"DUEL START!"


	9. The Will to Survive Part 2

Chapter 9: The Will to Survive Part 2

Luke and Robert landed on the roof of the DCA and Bynor dissipated from above them. Taking in the crisp air, Luke grinned, knowing that in moments all of his hard work would pay off. However, there was something that he needed to address before that.

He turned around, hearing the new pair of footsteps come across the rooftop. Jake stood, defiant, against his father and Luke who stood opposite of him.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise." Luke said, taking note of the son of his accomplice. "By your expression something tells me you're not surprised to see that your old man here is responsible for all of this."

"That's because I'm not." Jake stated. "I really wanted to be wrong but…"

"It will all make sense soon Jake."

"Nothing has made sense from the start!" Jake shouted at him. "Look I get that you all have issues with the DCA but you can't really think you have the influence to reform it!"

"You have no idea the sacrifices I've had to go through to reach this point."

"I've had to keep this a secret from my friends! From Jamie and CJ! Don't talk about sacrifices!"

Robert gritted his teeth. "You insolent..."

"If I knew everything you were prepping me for would contribute to this…God I don't know how I can look at my friends the same way anymore!"

"Not to be rude or anything but…" Luke stepped in. "Best you get a move on. Only a matter of time before they catch on to us."

Robert cleared his throat. "You're right. I'll leave him for you to deal with."

"You got it."

Robert walked past Jake, causing the latter to spin around. "Hold on—!" before he could take a step forward a transparent blue wall split them up.

"Sorry hero, can't have you interfering. At least not before I get to test my new 'friend' out on you."

Jake turned back and gritted his teeth. He raised his hand, yellow electricity snapping back and forth and snapped his fingers. A wave of yellow electricity hit the ground and expanded, overlapping on Luke's Duel Field.

The tables materialized and the pair set their shields and drew their cards.

"Things aren't gonna play out the same as they did last time." Jake stated.

"Oh trust me, I'd be insulted if you pull off the same pitiful performance as before."

"DUEL START!"

* * *

Mini Titan Gett materialized in a small pillar of fire behind Jamie, with Braid Claw flipping over to slash the first of Cindy's shields.

 _ **Cindy**_

 _ **Shields 5-4**_

Cindy drew and set mana. "I summon Blazosaur Q."

Jamie braced herself for the survivor, as a pillar of flames erupted, revealing a dinosaur-like creature made from lava. The beast roared, towering over Gett and Braid Claw by a few feet.

 _ **Blazosaur Q**_

 _ **Civilization: Fire**_

 _ **Power: 1000+**_

"And now, my Braid Claw will attack yours!" Cindy ordered as her Braid Claw lunged towards Jamie's. both of the dragonoids fought before striking one another down.

Jamie drew and set mana. "I summon Baby Zoppe and attack with Gett; break her shield!"

The white and blue egg materialized and out popped Zoppe, followed by Gett skating over to Cindy and breaking a shield. The shield shattered but reformed in her hand.

"Shield Trigger: Tornado Flame! With it I destroy Baby Zoppe!"

Jamie braced herself as the flame tornado launched ahead and engulfed the small bird, leaving nothing in its wake.

"You're so naïve." Cindy commented. "Did you honestly think you could beat me?"

Jamie pulled her arms down. "This coming from the one who's down 5-3."

Cindy smirked. "That's gonna change, don't you worry about that." She drew and set mana. "I summon a second Blazosaur Q."

Another lava-like dinosaur materialized alongside the first one. Due to its appearance, both of the orbs on their chest begin to radiate with a bright red light.

"Blazosaur's Survivor ability gives it Power Attacker +1000. With my second Blazosaur in the battle zone, I add onto that ability, boosting its Power Attacker to 2000 instead!"

Jamie didn't say anything, knowing exactly what was about to happen.

"Blazosaur Q attack Mini Titan Gett!"

 _ **Blazosaur Q**_

 _ **Power: 1000-3000**_

 _ **Gett: 2000+**_

Gett, realizing the imminent threat attempted to avoid the beast, dodging its first few swipes, and shooting small missiles from its gauntlets as it tried to defend itself. It used the transparent dome for added room, riding it upward, however Blazosaur aimed for the zenith of the dome and unleashed flames that covered the entire top of the dome. Gett found himself caught and fell from the sky, fading away before hitting the ground.

"Sorry Gett…" Jamie said regretfully. She drew and set mana. "I'm not gonna let your death go in vain! I summon Rothus the Traveler!"

Rothus materialized on Jamie's side. It locked onto the Blazosaurs and launched itself ahead towards one of them.

"When Rothus enters the battle zone, we each destroy one of our own creatures." I sacrifice Rothus to take down one of your Blazosaurs!"

Cindy snickered as Rothus fired a brief barrage at one of the Survivors. The Survivor grabbed onto Rothus and exploded with the robot, wiping them both out.

"You'll pay for—!" Cindy's sentence fell short as she grabbed onto the table. Her breathing became faster, raising alarms for Jamie. The former regained her composure and drew, setting mana and tapping three of them. "I summon Migasa, Adept of Chaos."

A humanoid creature dressed with red, green and white robes and robotic appendages materialized in the battle zone.

 _ **Migasa, Adept of Chaos**_

 _ **Civilization: Fire**_

 _ **Power: 2000**_

"And then…" Cindy steadied her hand on Blazosaur. "Blazosaur Q, break her shields!"

The remaining Blazosaur roared and blew a stream of flames that shattered a shield. The shards returned to her hand and she added the card to it before drawing a new one.

 _ **Jamie**_

 _ **Shields: 5-4**_

Jamie set mana. "I summon Brawler Zyler and another Baby Zoppe."

The two creatures materialized on Jamie's side, representing an attempt at a counterattack.

"Those two aren't going to stop me from blowing you away." Cindy drew and set mana. "I summon Bombat, General of Speed. And now Migasa, activate your Tap Ability!"

"Tap Ability?" Jamie repeated.

"Some creatures like Migasa have what's known as a Tap Ability, where they can activate a special ability instead of attacking. Migasa here can give one of my fire creatures Double Breaker. And he'll grant it to Bombat, a Speed Attacker."

Migasa turned to Bombat and held its robotic hand up towards the creature. A flame like aura engulfed Bombat, granting it the power boost.

"Bombat, Double Break her shields!"

Bombat obeyed his duelist's orders, taking off and unleashing a barrage of missles down on Jamie, who could only shield herself from the barrage. Two more shields shattered to pieces, dropping her count down to 2

 _ **Jamie**_

 _ **Shields: 4-2**_

The shards gathered back to her hand, but a slight glistening from one of them was enough to capture her gaze. "Shield Trigger: Burst Shot!" She exclaimed. She waved her hand and the shards stopped and unleashed a barrage of missiles that showered Cindy's side just as much as Bombat did to Jamie. Each of Cindy's remaining creatures submitted to the barrage of missiles, leaving not one aside from Bombat standing.

Cindy became more dizzy from that. Another Survivor down. Another blow to her. Nausea became more prevalent as the seconds rolled by but she couldn't give up. Not at this point.

"You know…you're not the only orphan." Jamie suddenly said, setting mana. Cindy looked up at her. "It's been my brother and I for as long as I can remember." She continued. "My Brother and I found our escape from this harsh world through Duel Masters. It was the only way to cope with the fact we didn't have anyone truly looking out for us. He got involved with the DCA, and well, here I am too."

"What does any of that have to do with me?"

"I feel like I could've turned into you if it wasn't for the friends I've made. Jake, Dylan, Karon…even CJ. I may have lost my parents but I've gained a family, people who care about me and don't want me to get hurt. They went so far to rescue me when I was kidnapped. And thinking back to the other night, Luke cares a lot about you."

Cindy scoffed. "If this is your way of trying to talk me out of this then save it. No matter what happens I will never see my parents again. You have no idea what it feels like to live with the knowledge that the people who stole them from me can walk around without a care in the world! You may think we're similar but let me tell you we are nothing alike!" Cindy drew and set mana. "I summon Rumblesaur Q!"

A lion-like Rock Beast emerged and roared. Cindy staggered once more, trying to keep herself steady.

 _ **Rumblesaur Q**_

 _ **Civilization: Fire**_

 _ **Power: 3000**_

Jamie drew and set mana. "I summon Gatling Skyterror! I told CJ I was going to handle this and I will. Even if I have to beat it into you I'll prove to you that there's a different way to go about this. I swear I'll do whatever it takes to make you see that!"

"Just shut up already!" Cindy screamed. Her lungs burned from her emotional outburst and she drew. She set mana and drew a card from her hand. "Erupt with a vengeance! Burn the world how you see fit and take pride in incinerating your enemies! Rumblesaur Q, evolve into Q-Tronic Gargantua!"

As soon as Cindy slammed the card onto her creature, Rumblesaur roared, summoning flames to encircle it. The spiral shot upward, and the green serpent emerged from the spiral, the fire turning into its wings.

 _ **Q-Tronic Gargantua**_

 _ **Civilization: Fire**_

 _ **Power: 9000**_

It was at this point Cindy dropped to her knees. She grasped her head, feeling the terrible urge to scream from the searing pain she was feeling.

"It's the Survivors right? They're making you suffer aren't they?!" Jamie shouted at her.

"Shut…up!" Cindy picked herself up.

Jamie gritted her teeth and decided to make moves to end this before it got worse. She drew and set her fingers on Baby Zoppe. "Zoppe, Zyler, break her shields!"

The pair leapt into action and unleashed their might on her shields, the shards breaking overhead.

 _ **Cindy**_

 _ **Shields: 3-1**_

"You could've ended…the duel just now. I knew you…were full of it." Cindy said between breaths.

"Trust me I want to, but I also want to destroy that thing while I have the chance." She pointed at Gargantua.

Cindy laughed. "For someone who can't even protect her Guardian Creature you honestly think you have the power to topple Gargantua? Alright then…" she drew and revealed the pair of Blazosaurs. "I'll show you how wrong you are then."

Both Blazosaurs erupted alongside Gargantua and their Survivor orbs radiated alongside Gargantua.

"Gargantua has a special kind of breaker ability known as Crew Breaker. Which means he can break one more shield for each additional Survivor I have!"

Jamie felt her words pierce through her, the realization that she really should've ended things right then and there.

"Disappear…" Cindy waved her hand and Gargantua and the Blazosaurs combined their prowess and unleashed their blazes, blowing Jamie's remaining two shields and sending her back into the invisible wall. She fell face first into the dirt floor with the shields decorating the ground around her like teal glass.

 _ **Jamie**_

 _ **Shields: 2-0**_

"Now then…Bombat will finish you—!" Cindy stopped seeing the glistening shield shards rising from the ground.

Jamie put one foot after the other, forcing herself onto her feet. "I told you before…that I swore that I'd do _whatever_ it took to make you see things differently!"

"You can't be serious!" Cindy screamed in anger.

"Shield trigger: Tornado Flame! Destroy Bombat, General of Speed!"

As if she was the one casting the spell, Jamie swung her arm ahead of her and unleashed the flames from the shield shards, engulfing the creature into a smoldering pile of ash before fading away.

"This…this isn't happening…!" Cindy said astonished.

Jamie drew her final card and revealed it. "I cast Magma Gazer. I grant Gatling Skyterror Power Attacker +4000 in addition to Double Breaker. With that Power Attacker, Skyterror's power cranks up to 11,000 which is more than enough to destroy Gargantua! Go now!"

 _ **Gatling Skyterror: 11,000**_

 _ **Q-Tronic Gargantua: 9000**_

Gargantua and Gatling Skyterror took off after one another, unleashing fire and fury in the skies above.

Cindy helplessly watched as she saw Gatling Skyterror gain the advantage over her Survivor. Watching helplessly as she lost her only way of securing justice…

"Brawler Zyler break her last shield!" Jamie's voice brought her back but by then the flamethrower already broke the shield.

 _ **Cindy**_

 _ **Shield 1-0**_

"Baby Zoppe finish it!" Jamie commanded, with Baby Zoppe charging in and diving headfirst into the girl knocking her on her back.

Cindy weakly looked on as Gargantua and Gatling Skyterror pulled off one another. Gargantua unleashed one final blaze of might against its opponent, however it wasn't enough. Gatling Skyterror's propellers sliced through the stream of flames and once it was close enough it unleashed its gatling guns directly into the beast, causing it to explode in the air in a scream of fury and defeat.

Cindy weakly reached out for Gargantua, despite her growing weakened state. Before her eyes shut, her arm dropped to her side and a tear of regret followed.

Jamie meanwhile dropped herself, exhausted by the outcome of the duel. Brawler Zyler, Baby Zoppe and Gatling Skyterror all looked on with a sense of approval, before taking their leave.

"If only you were here to see this yourself, Blaze…" Jamie said, laying on her back.

"Jamie!" a voice called out from overhead. Jamie sat back up and looked over, seeing to her somewhat surprise, a white dragon with blue armor approaching. Jason, her brother riding on said dragon landed and quickly got off.

"You're late." She told him as he ran up.

"Just be grateful I showed up. What happened to you?"

Jamie looked at her hand and gripped it. "I won…" she looked back at Cindy. She got up and walked over to her.

"We need to get her to a hospital." Jamie stated.

"Hold on a second Jay—"

"Jason please!" Jamie snapped. "I don't think she has long…"

He could see Jamie's tears starting to protrude and that was all it took. He took Cindy from Jamie and carried her bridal style to the dragon.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be sure that she pulls through." He told her.

"Thanks." She nodded. As Jamie was about to follow her brother she stopped and happened to look down. A card sat where Cindy previously laid and she picked it up. Jamie's shock robbed her of her voice when she realized what it was.

"Jay come on we gotta move it!" Jason ordered her.

Jamie looked up and nodded, setting the card in her pocket. She also took good measure and grabbed Cindy's deck before running back to the dragon. The three of them then took off into the sky, unaware of the lab left behind…

* * *

Luke and Jake both stood at the stalemate during the early moves of their duel. Luke had Aqua Guard and Angler Cluster as his defense, while Jake had La Ura Giga, and a newly summoned Reso Pacos. Angler Cluster's ability boosts its power to 6000 as long as all of Luke's mana is Water, which means that Jake will have a hard time getting around it, forcing him to play safe for the time being.

Luke drew and set mana. "I cast Energy Stream. With it, it allows me to draw two cards from my deck." He set the spell into his grave and drew his two cards, passing the turn over.

Jake drew and set mana. "I summon Dia Nork, Moonlight Guardian."

Dia Nork materialized from a brief flash of light on Jake's side, joining his other two Guardians.

Luke drew, set mana and revealed his first Survivor. "I summon Split-Head Hydroturtle Q!"

A large blue tortoise-like creature with yellow veins coursing along its shell materialized. Its head was large and carnivorous with a smaller head towards the tip which looked more crustacean-like.

 _ **Split-Head Hydroturtle Q**_

 _ **Civilization: Water**_

 _ **Power: 2000**_

Luke cleared his throat as the Survivor's presence sent a bit of stress his way. "When Split-Head attacks, I'm allowed to draw a card. And since he's a Survivor, each of my Survivors will share his ability when they attack."

"It's not going to change anything." Jake said. "I'm still going to crush you."

"And there you go again. I think I've proven before that the White Knight routine you got going on doesn't work during a war."

"You say that but Knights were the ones who lead the charge in times of war." Jake drew. He set mana and tapped all of it. "I summon Szubs Kin, Twilight Guardian!"

A red curved Guardian heeded Jake's call, appearing upon his Battle Zone.

 _ **Szubs Kin, Twilight Guardian**_

 _ **Civilization: Light**_

 _ **Power: 6000**_

"They also made it their objective to protect the weak and innocent from invaders and those who's only goals were to bring chaos." Jake continued. "They were the perfect examples of justice!"

"Justice isn't as black and white as you're making it out to be." Luke drew and set mana. "I summon Spikestrike Ichthys Q!"

A blue transparent Survivor materialized, resembling a slim, jagged sea creature, similar to a swordfish with limbs.

 _ **Spikestrike Ichthys Q**_

 _ **Civilization: Water**_

 _ **Power: 3000**_

"Spikestrike makes all of my Survivors unblockable, allowing them to bypass all of your blockers!"

Jake was taken aback by that fact, not seeing that coming.

"Split-Head, break his Shield!"

Split-Head moved up, its Survivor orb glowing blue with Spikestrike. It unleashed a small torrent of water strong enough to break a shield. Jake shielded himself from the shards that flew past him.

 _ **Jake**_

 _ **Shields: 5-4**_

"Split-Head's ability grants me a card from attacking you." Luke said, drawing a card. "Now then I'm curious to see how you're gonna get around this one, Hero."

Jake added his shield to his hand and drew, following up by setting mana. "I summon Ethel, Star Sea Elemental."

A golden humanoid-like robot creature materialized amongst the Guardians present. It glowed with a bright light, shining among the creatures present.

 _ **Ethel, Star Sea Elemental**_

 _ **Civilization: Light**_

 _ **Power: 5500**_

"Alright then fine." Jake's demeanor changed. "I was getting bored playing stupid anyway."

Luke scoffed, not paying any mind to what Jake was saying.

"Szubs attacks Split-Head!"

"Angler Blocks!"

 _ **Szubs Kin: 6000**_

 _ **Angler Cluster: 6000**_

The red Guardian charged ahead and unleashed a laser beam heading directly for Split-Head, however, Angler Cluster shielded its comrade and rushed Szubs Kin, grabbing it with its pinsers, taking the Guardian along with it.

Luke drew and set mana. "Another Split-Head. His ability adds on, so now that's 2 cards drawn per attack. The First Split-Head and Spikestrike attack you, and that's 4 cards to my hand."

The second Split-Head materialized, while the former two creatures made their way over to Jake's side, each taking out a shield. Jake however stood defiant in the face of the sea beasts, the shield shards scattering about around him.

 _ **Jake**_

 _ **Shields: 4-2**_

"Next turn its over." Luke said, assured of his victory.

"You'd think that wouldn't you. Shame that you're not the one in control of the situation."

Luke raised his eyebrow. "What was that?"

Jake drew and set mana. "For someone who walks about thinking he's smarter than everyone, it's a shame you didn't notice the snake that was riding on your shoulder this whole time."

Luke still wasn't understanding it. Or rather…he didn't want to understand it.

"Desend upon us, prince of the skies; Lead those who walk in the light to victory and salvation! Reign justice upon this world! I evolve Ethel, Star Sea Elemental into Alcadeias, Lord of Spirits!"

Jake set the card on top of Ethel and the Skyforce Command was taken over by a bright, shining light. The figure that emerged from the light was Tenshi, who stood as an angelic giant above the duelist, its radiant light shining bright and illuminating the rooftop in an immaculate spectrum of beauty and purity.

"Understand now?" Jake asked Luke, who stood dumbfounded. "You were never in control of the situation. You were never a mastermind. You were just another soldier, among the battle field, who was in way over his head."

"All this time…" Luke started to piece together.

"Did you honestly think my father would help you exact revenge against the DCA when he was the one responsible for your father's demise?"

Luke grew cold, despite Alcadeias' warmth. "What do you mean by that…?"

"You want to know the truth? Your father is here, within the DCA, held prisoner by my Father to keep you two apart. Your father created the Survivors to protect the Creature World, but the DCA stole everything from him and my father left him to die in the Creature World. Now he's a prisoner, after being discovered to be alive. My father couldn't let you or Cindy bring the DCA down before he had the opportunity to reform it in his image. But he couldn't deny your capabilities either. So he gave you those Survivors, so the Omnistrain virus could slowly kill you as you dueled. That way, he could exploit you two to your maximum potential before kicking you to the side."

Luke, couldn't believe what he was hearing from Jake. He couldn't handle what he was hearing. He needed to get Cindy, he needed to escape somehow. He needed to find Robert… so much was racing through his head he couldn't take it.

But then, he started laughing. Hysterically.

"Oh the irony…" He said with a smile. "Oh what a hypocrite you are."

Jake stood silent.

"Tell me, those friends of yours, that girl that you hold so dear to you, Jamie, right? How much do they, does _she_ know about how much of a backstabbing rat of a leader you are?! I mean, come on! How twisted are you inside that head of yours that you're willing to manipulate them? That crap you said before about how you can't look them in the eyes anymore? You proclaiming justice and 'walking in the light'? I don't know what's more disgusting."

Jake tapped Alcadeias. "Attack Spikestrike."

"Aqua Guard Blocks!" Luke furiously countered. "I wasn't done talking!" His statement was amplified by Guard dying by Alcadeias' blast behind him. Reso Pacos zoomed past Luke and took down Spikestrike, getting caught in the explosion. However he stood unfazed.

"I swear to god, _nothing_ is going to keep me from getting what I want. I _refuse_ to be expendable. After everything we lost _we are more than damn cannon fodder_!"

Luke drew and set mana, drawing a card from his hand.

"We…" he slowly calmed down, his hand sparking blue. "We are Survivors…" he flipped the card over and set it on top of one of the Split-Heads."

Split-Head began to glow into a bright blue light and rose above the two in a similar fashion to Alcadeias before. What emerged from the blue ball of light was a large blue serpent creature with the upper body resembling a stingray, yellow and purple fins protruding from the top of it.

"Q-Tronic Hypermind…when it enters the Battle Zone, I can draw a card for each Survivor present." Luke explained while suffering from the initial effects of the strain of summoning Hypermind, drawing two cards. "And now to make you and your father pay for using us… Hypermind, Double Break his shields!"

Hypermind responded, unleashing tendrils from its underside that shattered the last of Jake's shields to bits, leaving him wide open.

 _ **Jake**_

 _ **Shields: 2-0**_

"And now…!" Luke's expression grew cold as the light of the shield glistened. "There's no way…"

"Shield Trigger: Holy Awe!" Jake countered. "All of your creatures tap!"

The shields reformed into an orange orb that aimed itself and launched a beam of electricity towards the other Split-Head, paralyzing it in place.

"No… _no…_!" Luke wanted to curse so bad. "This isn't happening!" he knees buckled violently.

Jake drew. "I summon two La Ura Giga, Sky Guardians. And finally, the card that will end this: Diamond Cutter. Using this spell," he started setting the spell into the grave, "all of my creatures that would be restricted from attacking, summoning sickness or otherwise, are released from their confines."

"This can't be happening…"

"Tenshi, double break!"

Tenshi held his hand out and unleashed an orange beam that blew the shields away without a second thought.

 _ **Luke**_

 _ **Shields: 5-3**_

"My three La Ura Giga, Sky Guardians, break his shields!"

The trio of smaller air ships took charge, following up Alcadeias by zooming through the three remaining shields.

 _ **Luke**_

 _ **Shields: 3-0**_

"Now then… Dia Nork, Finish—!"

"JAKE STOP!"

Jake stopped his order, looking over his shoulder, taking his attention from Luke, who barely could stand himself. Anger and pain was riddled on the water duelist's face.

"Please…don't do something you can't come back from." CJ pleaded. "It's over."

"Over…?" Luke asked, mustering strength to utter the word. "Don't make…me laugh. It's not over until he pays for _everything_ he's done! Q-TRONIC HYPERMIND!"

The towering creature responded, readying itself to attack.

"JAKE!" CJ stared in horror as the giant Survivor unleashed its tendrils directly at Jake…


	10. The Will to Survive Part 3

CJ slid on the pavement, out of breath as the doors to the DCA building opened before him. The room was crowded, filled with emergency medical supplies provided by the staff for those seeking shelter in the chaos. Desperately he searched for a face that he knew and saw Karon and Dylan aiding in distributing items to those without.

"Hey, nice of you to make it." Dylan said, watching CJ approach. "Quick, grab that case of water."

"There's no time for that… where's Jake?" CJ asked, panting.

"Dunno, he disappeared as soon as we got here." Dylan said. "Last thing he told us was to help out in whatever way they wanted us to and here we are."

"More importantly, wasn't Jamie with you?" Karon noticed. He then noticed Junky in his arms. "What what's with the doll?"

CJ looked down at Junky who blinked back at him. "Long story. But as for Jamie, she's dueling Cindy right now. She told me go on without her so I can get here and help you guys out. Luke and…"

Dylan and Karon looked at one another and back at him "Luke and who?"

"Luke and—" a hand plopped onto CJ shoulder and he grew cold.

"Hey Mr. Wilson." Dylan said.

"How are you boys holding up?" Robert asked the group.

Karon noticed the fear in CJ's expression and looked back at him. "Not bad. How about yourself?"

Robert scoffed. "What with all this chaos? It hard to keep track of everything. What with Nate missing and that green light that's sparked all of this."

CJ kept his mouth shut but continue to grind his teeth. He knew calling him out now wouldn't do much but waste time so he continued to bide it, despite growing frustration.

"Well like I said, I gotta run. Director Roman has us all scrambling in an attempt to find whatever caused this mess. I'll catch you guys later."

"Yeah sure thing." Dylan waved him off.

Robert nodded and released his hand off CJ's shoulder, making his way out of the building.

Wanting to punch something, CJ turned around, only to see Karon stop in front of him.

"Jake was making his way towards the roof. I could be going crazy, but I'm positive I sense his K-Waves reacting to something, which means he's probably dueling Luke right now."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Don't worry about him. Dylan and I have it handled." Karon reassured.

"You just make sure Jake doesn't get himself killed up there." Dylan added. "He owes me a rematch when this is over." He said, giving a thumbs up.

"Alright, I'll leave him in your hands. Junky, what do you want to do?"

"This place is too noisy for Junky to concentrate. Junky take a nap for a bit." The doll said, fading away in a purple stream of light.

"Uh…yeah okay. That works." CJ said, accepting what just happened.

"We'll be sure to let you know if we have trouble." Karon said.

"Which knowing us, won't be the case." Dylan crossed his arms.

"Noted." CJ gave a determined grin.

From there, the three boys split up, each of them having their objectives in place.

* * *

Chapter 10: The Will to Survive Part 3

* * *

"Just like old times, huh?" Jonah asked Nate as the pair approached the warehouse where Robert and his team were prior.

"Guess you can say that." Nate replied. "Although, clearly things changed in the last two decades."

"Not of my own volition mind you." Jonah said. "Fortunately for us, my enhancements do well to serve me."

"Well they better, or else this trip out here would've been a waste." Nate took a look around. He found himself growing a smirk of approval, contemplating the thought of the battle previously fought here, as noted by the charred ground beneath their feet.

"Atta girl…" He told himself, thinking of Jamie and her presumed victory.

"Atta boy!" Jonah exclaimed, catching Nate's attention.

Nate walked inside the warehouse, discovering Jonah standing in front of a small workstation, presumably set up by Luke beforehand. Jonah's fingers flew across the keys as data continued to run rapidly across the screen.

"What did you find?"

"Not what I found, what Luke did. That boy of mine kept himself an ace in the hole."

Nate looked on the screen, seeing data references to a huge tree-like blueprint.

"Don't tell me…"

"Yup. Luke knows about the Fiona Wood's World Tree. And what's better, is that he knew how to copy its properties as well."

"Which means that he could create a vaccine for the Omnistrain Virus!

"Which," Jonah went over to the card reader installed on the desktop and pushed the button which ejected a single card from it. "He did. Only problem, is that since its from the Nature Civilization, we're gonna need someone with Nature K-Waves to actually activate its properties."

Nate hesitated for a moment, the first person coming to mind being the person he didn't want to suggest. But with no other option he swallowed hard. "I know just the person…"

* * *

The sound of shattering glass echoed into the night sky. CJ brought his arms down from his face, taking in the situation before him. To his surprise, the Survivor was held back by a silver robot with electricity holding together its limbs, and a purple ghost-like snake.

And their duelists, Brian and Megan Warner.

Jake sighed and crossed his arms. "You're late."

"Yeah well with everything considered, traffic's more backed up than usual." Brian replied. "Now are you gonna stand there or are you gonna hurry and take the shot?"

"What are you two doing here?!" Luke snarled at them.

"What's it look like genius? Saving your stupid—!" Brian grunted, feeling Hypermind's resistance through Jack Viper. "Come on just kill the thing already!"

"Yeah, seriously… we can't hold out for much longer…"

Jake nodded. "Tenshi, go for it!"

"No! You can't!" Luke shouted, forcing himself steady. "Not until I get my hands on him!"

Alcadeias despite that readied himself and unleashed a blast of energy that shot straight through the beast. Q-Tronic Hypermind howled through the night and went limp, fading away in a blue stream if light.

Luke collapsed with a look of astonishment on his face. CJ managed to snap back to reality and ran to catch him before he fell onto the ground. Desperately he checked for a pulse and was relieved to find a faint but rather stable one.

The group of creatures all took their leave as Megan and Brian went over and took Luke from CJ.

"We'll be back once we get him situated." Megan reassured.

"Yeah. This is going to be a long night for all of us…" Brian said with a bit of disdain.

That said the pair mounted their creatures with Luke and took off into the sky to get him the much needed medical attention. CJ stood up and looked at Jake, who with a slight smirk on his face, turned around and began to take his leave. Gritting his teeth, CJ took off and grabbed Jake's shoulder, flipping him around.

Jake staggered, tasting blood. He moved his now aching jaw while looking at CJ's fist pointed downward and then his angered expression.

"Um…?" Jake began to question.

"Don't even…" CJ snarled. "You knew about all of this from the start, didn't you? You knew your Dad was behind everything and you kept that from all of us!"

"I had a good reason!"

"Screw that, there's _nothing_ good about this! Like…I—I don't get it! Why us? Why them? Why is he so hellbent on making the DCA fall, or like you said, 'reform' it? My Dad is missing because of you two!"

"CJ listen to me—!"

"No! You had plenty of time to come clean about this. Why now when you've been caught? What do you have to say that will change my mind about any of this?!"

Jake was at a loss for words. He didn't say anything for a moment and sighed deeply. "Nothing. Because no words can describe the situation. Only actions."

"What are you talking about…?"

"Whether or not you trust me from here on, really doesn't matter anymore." Jake stated. "Whether or not you'll still see me as a friend after this, doesn't matter either. Because at the end of the day the fact remains that I'm going to do whatever it takes to protect those I love. No matter the sacrifices I have to make in order to see that happen."

"Jake…what did you do…?" CJ asked him.

"It's not what I did. It's what I plan on doing." Jake clarified.

Before CJ could ask further an all-too familiar roar echoed into the sky. The green light exploded, shrouding everything in sight and to CJ's horror, the owner of the cry slowly rose skyward.

The green portal that erupted in the streets below sprouted a skinny, winding tree trunk. The tree trunk sprouted two mantis claws on its sides and the wild, winding branches above wraped about, turning orange with black stripes, eventually becoming the head of a tiger. Branches sprouted from its head, resembling horns and in its large jaw was the green orb with the familiar mark of the Survivor.

"Whoa…!" CJ stood in awe.

"Let's get started." Jake said, walking past CJ.

"Jake, hold up!"

"CJ please…" Jake turned around, revealing his eyes shifting to a golden yellow color. "Just let me do this."

Before CJ could respond, Jake already began to take a running start towards the edge.

"Jake what are you doing?!" CJ began to run after him.

The boy ignored his friend, drawing Alcadeias in hand and tossing it ahead, the card leaving a trail from its launch point. Jake reached the end and leapt off the skyscraper, heading in the direction of the beast. Alcadeias materialized once again and Jake landed on his back as the Light creature hit the beast square in the muzzle, before soaring past it in a safe distance. The creature shook off the surprise attack and turned its attention to Alcadeias. Growling in annoyance, it reached out for him but a stream of purple energy fired at it from behind.

CJ turned around and saw Schuka slide on the rooftop along with his mother.

"Mom!" CJ reacted immediately.

Catharine turned around and caught her son who dove into her arms. She hugged him tightly and kissed his head. "Oh thank goodness you're alright!"

"Same to you!" CJ had a hard time letting go, finding security in his mother's embrace at that moment. When he did finally ease up, he was greeted by the Dark Lord that stood before him.

"Um…I'm guessing you're Schuka?"

"At your service," he bowed. "Must say it's truly a pleasure to finally meet you Master Chris. Despite these circumstances, I mean."

"…yeah, likewise." CJ replied.

Schuka stood up and nodded. "Now, if you will excuse me…" he turned back and jumped back into the air to continue the fight against the Survivor.

"Have you heard from Dad?" CJ asked his mother.

"Don't worry. He's safe. Matter of fact, he's working on a way to stop Robert and this situation from escalating."

"How is he gonna do that?"

"Knowing him he'll pull out a miracle. In the meantime we need to keep this thing in place for as long as we can."

" _Ain't gotta worry about that one!"_ Dylan's voice carried into CJ's K-VYZR.

Suddenly, Lancer appeared, galloping across a nearby skyscraper, with Dylan riding on it horseback style. Karon alongside him, riding on Kage's shoulder as the Ballom expanded its black wings.

"Whoa since when could they do that…?"

" _You guys are seriously gonna leave me out of this one? Don't think I can't take the heat because I'm a girl and all!"_

Another creature shot past CJ and as if his astonishment couldn't reach any new heights, the appearance of Jamie on Blaze, her Bolshack Dragon managed to push it further.

"Wow…you kids cease to amaze me." Catharine said with a hint of pride in her voice. She turned to CJ. "Aren't you going to join them?"

CJ looked at his mother. "You mean…?"

"You have your new friends, your new home and brand new experiences every moment since we came here. All of it has been an adventure hasn't it?"

CJ relaxed and smiled, clearly exhausted. "Yeah, all of it."

"Okay then." She smiled. "Now go and wrap this one up so you can embark on the next one."

Tsume materialized on his shoulder. "Let's run wild, Savage Hero."

CJ looked at him and grinned. "Yeah, let's."

Tsume disappeared and CJ drew his card. He stared and recalled what he remembered during his duel with Cindy. He closed his eyes, wind stirring about around his feet. As the green energy sparked around his hand and the winds stirred ever more violently, his thoughts became stronger. His will to protect his friends…his will to protect his home…his will…

…to survive…

CJ's K-Waves exploded from his stationary position, becoming a physical green vortex around him, the winds he created turning the energy into a puppet for him to control. The energy explosion was enough to bring the fighting to a standstill and cause everyone to look at the erupting might that CJ displayed.

And slowly the figure built itself skyward. The four-armed beast king materialized in a knelt position, his head dipped down and sword resting on his shoulder. As he stood, CJ slowly opened his eyes, revealing the glowing jade-color that flooded his irises, and its match to Tsume's newly transitioned jade-colored eyes.

Feeling the adrenaline pulsating through him, CJ locked his gaze on the Survivor. "Let's go, Tsume."

The Fighter Dual Fang nodded, placing CJ on his person and readying himself. "Right…"

Tsume launched off the roof and raised its blade into the air. The Survivor reached for Tsume but one quick swipe sliced the outstretched limb off, causing the creature to screech in agony. Tsume landed onto the city streets below, causing parked cars to leap into the air and anything made of glass to turn to dust.

"Nice landing." CJ told him.

Tsume winced, feeling a mailbox in the sole of his foot. "Yeah you can say that again."

" _Now while its distracted!"_ Jake exclaimed.

Blaze and Lancer rushed the beast, Blaze charging her claw with flames and slashing it from behind while Lancer galloped along the side of a building, only to bounce from it to impale it with its sword. Kage conjured a giant ball of darkness in its hands while Tenshi charged another light beam. Kage raised the ball of darkness and casted it towards the Survivor, with Tenshi firing against it to mix it with light energy. The combined blast pushed it back and then finally Tsume rushed in, raising its blade once more and putting all of it's might into one attack against the trunk. The beast howled in agony as green energy spilled from its wounds, before finally collapsing on its side, causing the area in a several block radius to rock back and forth.

The beast slowly dissipated, green energy pouring out into the atmosphere. The group of creatures all descended and their duelists all gathered up towards CJ. Their duty done for the moment, each of them returned to their card states, retrieved by their respected duelists.

"That was it?" Dylan asked. "I don't know why but, I kinda expected more out of that thing, you know?"

"This isn't the plot to an anime," Karon reminded. "Just be grateful that we managed to take that thing out when we did. No telling how much chaos would've spawn if left roaming."

"Yeah, got a point there." He had to agree.

Jake nodded, however before he could say anything he was attracted to the sound of clapping. He looked over and so did his friends, as Robert approached them.

"Nothing short of amazing." Robert said proudly. CJ grew defensive at his presence.

"This ends now, Father." Jake stated.

"I would say so." He put his hands on his hips and roamed a bit, taking in the destruction. "Creatures from a parallel world have suddenly appeared within the city. The DCA clearly holds responsibility. By that, all of their dark, corrupt and illegal practices will be bought into the forefront…and like I hoped, the organization will fall." He turned to them. "And I have you all to thank for that."

"Just what do you get from that that you've had to endanger everyone here in the city? What do you get out of 'reforming' it, like you claim?" CJ demanded.

Robert turned to him. "To be honest, the authority to eradicate that world."

The five teens were taken aback. CJ turned to Jake, growing furious, but he had to hold back, seeing even that Jake was surprised.

"As you can see around you, the creatures of that world have no place in this world. And it will only be a matter of time before the creatures truly invade our world through their own volition. My actions merely demonstrate to the world that the DCA will do whatever it takes to _protect_ those who seek to do us harm, and how this is just a warning of what could potentially come."

"You can't be for real!" Dylan stepped forward. "So what, you used us too then? You gave us these decks, so we could defend the city from this?"

"No, not from this. From who's coming." Robert clarified. "His name is Emperor Quazla. An old enemy of our time trying to find a way into this world one way or another. Like him he believes that Earth needs to be eradicated. And my goal in life was to stop him before he crossed over. But with the heads of the DCA against my intentions, I've took matter into my hands."

"Whatever your intentions were the fact is we're here now." Jamie stepped forward. "And I've been through way too much over the last week to accept that it was all planned out by you."

"Its one thing to use us for your endgame," Karon also stepped up, "But we made our own vow to discover what the DCA's hiding. We don't need your help, or your manipulation. We're going to protect our world from Emperor Quazla our own way. And if that also includes protecting the creature world from you, then we'll do that as well."

Robert sighed. "All of you are just children. You've all only made it this far because I was guiding you from behind the scenes. Don't you understand that I know each of you have the powers within you to topple the Emperor? I only want to see to it that you all survive!"

"Then stay out of our way!" Jake snapped. Robert grew silent. "If you think we have the power to topple the Emperor, then do us a favor and stay out of our way while we do so. We may hold the power but it'll be useless if we don't know how to execute it properly."

Robert grinned. "I expect nothing less from you. Truly I've trained you to be a fine leader of your team."

"Probably the one decent thing you've done as a Father…" Jake said.

Robert's grin faded with that statement. "Indeed. There was a second one, but suddenly I decided to revoke it." He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. His K-Waves sparked and suddenly the green particles that were formerly the Survivor reappeared from the atmosphere, raining down like snow.

"Whoa…" Dylan began to stagger. "Anyone feeling—" he dropped to his knees, wanting to vomit. "Gah, wonder if it was that sushi coming back to haunt me."

Dylan looked around him and saw as Karon and Jamie began to grow weak too.

Jake caught one of the green snowflakes and began to grow dizzy as the particles continued to land on him.

"What you're feeling now are the effects of the Omnistrain Virus of the Survivor you just took down." Robert explained.

Jake collapsed onto his knees and Jamie forced her head up. "Just like Cindy from before…"

"Observant." Robert noted. "The virus will slowly eat away at you, draining you until you finally collapse and die. As we speak the virus will continue to spread throughout all of NYC. Anyone else who is exposed to it will also feel the effects. Its obvious to me that I can't even rely on my own son to fight the battle that I can't win myself."

"You son of a…" Jake gritted his teeth.

"This is goodbye Jake. For what it was worth, I was proud to be your Father."

As Robert turned to walk away, the Virus strained more on him and caused Jake to collapse completely on the ground. He gritted his teeth, wanting to scream, both in anger and in pain, feeling the karma eating away at him…

But then he noticed something; CJ stood firm.

"Get…back…here…" CJ muttered.

Robert stopped, catching his muttering.

"I said… GET BACK HERE!" CJ's K-Waves exploded from him, blowing the raining particles away from them. A green dome surrounded them and Robert, not allowing him to go further.

"Truly are Nate's son. So impatient…" Robert turned around. He held a card in his hand. "If we are to do this, let's change the scenery then." He tossed the card into the air and above their heads expanded a green dimensional portal, that lifted them all up from the ground.

In one quick motion, the portal plopped them onto a grassy plain; a wide spacious area in none other than Central Park.

"Much better." Robert said, taking a breath. "No better place for two Nature Duelist to have their match."

CJ got onto his feet, not shifting in his demeanor.

"Right then." Robert said, snapping his fingers. His Duel Field expanded around them, encompassing CJ's.

"I swear I'm going to beat you." CJ stated.

"You may very well try." Robert said, setting his shields and drawing his hand.

As CJ was about to set his deck, something ticked him. He looked up before turning back, noticing Robert also felt whatever he did.

And by his expression, he wasn't necessarily pleased.

Star-Cry Dragon landed behind the group, and on its back was Nate and Jonah. Without saying anything, Nate took the card and threw it towards the Duel Field where it phased through with no issue. CJ looked at the card and back at his father.

"Go get him!" Nate nodded to him.

CJ, with no words simply agreed. He took out a card from his deck to make room for the new one and shuffled. He set the deck, added his shields and drew his hand.

"If there's no more interruptions—!" Robert began.

"There won't be. From here on out it'll just be me winning, and you losing and paying for your crimes." CJ stated, more firmly.

"Indeed…" Robert said. "Let's just get this started."

CJ nodded.

"DUEL START!"


	11. Our Legacy

Chapter 11: Our Legacy

Both of them ended their first turns setting mana. CJ drew on his second turn, set mana and tapped the two cards.

"I summon Burning Mane." He set the card on the table and Burning Mane materialized behind him. CJ stood in place, showing that the strain he experienced before seemed non-existent at the moment.

Robert drew and set mana. "I summon Torcon."

And Torcon materialized on his side. Robert smirked, noticing CJ's surprise. "Yes, I have a long history with the Beast Folk of the Nature Civilization."

CJ drew and set mana. "I summon Bronze-Arm Tribe. With him, I gain an extra mana from the top of my deck."

"Proceed to do so." Robert motioned. CJ snickered and drew the top card and setting it in mana, making his total at 4.

Robert drew and set mana. "I summon Smash Horn Q." He set the card into the battle zone and from behind, a large wooly creature materialized. It had long, ivory-like horns extending from its body, with its skin rippling like that of a tree. Its Survivor mark radiated green at the top of its front hump, proving very noticeable.

 _ **Smash Horn Q**_

 _ **Civilization: Nature**_

 _ **Power: 2000+**_

"Smash Horn Q's Survivor ability grants it +1000 power, boosting him to 3000 power in total." Robert explained.

 _ **Smash Horn Q**_

 _ **Power: 2000-3000**_

"That's pretty underwhelming for an ability." Dylan commented.

"As someone who's faced off against those things in one form or another, I can say that 1000 power can make a difference." Jamie replied. "Those things aren't to be messed with."

CJ drew and set mana. "I cast Ultimate Force. With it, that's another two mana from the top of my deck." He took the top two cards and added them to mana, totaling 7 at this point.

Robert drew and set mana. "I believe I can tell what's coming next turn. I must say you must want things to end quickly, don't you?"

CJ didn't respond. However, that didn't stop Robert. The latter tapped three.

"I summon Bronze-Arm Tribe, and add the top card of my deck into my Mana Zone. And then, I'll get the ball rolling. I break a shield with Torcon!"

Bronze-Arm Tribe materialized on Robert's side and Torcon went into action, smashing the first shield of the game.

 _ **CJ**_

 _ **Shields: 5-4**_

The Shards flew past CJ, but he didn't flinch. Even though one of the shards nicked his face. He drew and set mana. "Roar, the Savage Hero: Fighter Dual Fang!"

The evolution crystal materialized before Bronze-Arm Tribe and it took hold of it. It was then shrouded in a green light and reformed in the larger four-armed feline. Tsume rolled its neck and got into a battle stance as CJ once again set two more cards in mana, bringing it up to 10.

"Burning Mane, Attack Torcon, Dual Fang Double Break!"

 _ **Burning Mane: 2000**_

 _ **Torcon: 1000**_

The pair turned to one another, Burning Mane taking the lead. It and Torcon jumped into the air and locked fists with one another. A brief fist fight between the two concluded with Torcon succumbing to an upper cut, that sent the wolfman flying into the sky before turning into green particles of light.

Tsume meanwile, armed with its massive sword dove under Burning Mane and took down two shields, with Robert shielding himself from the shards.

 _ **Robert**_

 _ **Shields: 5-3**_

Robert removed his arms, revealing the grin on his face. The pair of cards returned to his hand, and that's when he flipped one over.

"Shield Trigger… Cover the world in your essence…infect everything with your corrupted desire. Smash Horn Q, I evolve you into Q-Tronic Omnistrain!"

It was at this moment that CJ's focus was snapped. The Evolution Creature that resembled the beast that attempted to take over the city not long before. His eyes traveled to Smash Horn Q, who gazed absentmindedly at the Evolution Crystal that descended upon it. The Crystal resonated with its' Survivor mark and forced the creature to undergo its transformation into the monster itself.

 _ **Q-Tronic Omnistrain**_

 _ **Civilization: Nature**_

 _ **Power: 3000**_

Once the transformation was complete, Omnistrain roared triumphantly. Bronze-Arm Tribe meanwhile clutched it's ears in pain, even dropping to its knees.

"What the…?" CJ was at a loss for words, trying to understand what was befalling Robert's creature. He grew cold, seeing a bright biohazard marked orb emerge from the center of its chest.

"Omnistrain's ability." Robert explained. "Its virus, while lethal to us humans, converts fellow creatures into Survivors themselves. As long as Omnistrain is present, not only do all of my Creatures become Survivors, but any abilities of my Survivor Creatures are shared amongst them as well!"

Nate equally surprised, turned to Jonah who confirmed it. "That creature in particular, out of all the Survivors would be considered the 'Adam' of their race. Through it, the Survivors were born. And it'll be through his destruction that they'll finally be put to rest." He turned to Jonah. "You must have some faith in your son in order to put that burden on him."

Nate sighed. "Yeah…guess I do."

Robert drew and set mana. "I'm sorry old friend, but I can't have you break any more of my things. I cast Natural Snare. I send Fighter Dual Fang to the Mana Zone!"

CJ's blood grew cold as the vines erupted behind him and snapped around Tsume. The large cat growled in pain, attempting to break free, to no avail. The vines crushed him into green particles and CJ was forced to set him in mana, bringing the total to 12.

"Oh what you gotta be kidding!" Dylan exclaimed.

"What did you expect? This is a veteran duelist he's facing off against." Karon said, although his tone indicated he was just as disturbed by the turn of events.

Jamie turned to Jake, who's expression was very bothered by the situation. She put his arm around him and he looked at her.

"He's gonna pull through. I know he will." She said.

Jake looked back at CJ as he readied himself for the oncoming attack. "Yeah…let's hope he does…"

"Omnistrain, Attack Burning Mane!"

 _ **Omnistrain: 3000**_

 _ **Burning Mane: 2000**_

Omnistrain raised its mantis-like claw and brought it down on Burning Mane. When it refused to budge, a second claw came down on it, bringing it to its knees. Still Burning Mane fought it. It finally took Omnistrain to unleash a beam of energy from its Survivor Mark in its mouth to finally kill the defiant Burning Mane.

Silently mourning Burning Mane, it surprised him as another shield shattered thanks to Bronze-Arm Tribe's pitchfork.

 _ **CJ**_

 _ **Shields: 4-3**_

"Not for nothing, but I expected much more from Nate's son." Robert commented.

"Yeah well, unlike you my father wasn't spending years brainwashing me to be some crusader to fight a battle he's too weak to finish." CJ countered.

Robert smirked. "Guess you take after Catharine more. Quick to shoot your mouth off with nothing to back it up."

Jake silently agreed to that.

CJ gritted his teeth and drew. He set mana. "I summon Golden Wing Striker!"

Golden Wing Striker materialized in CJ's lone battle zone.

Robert drew and set mana. "I summon Mighty Bandit, Ace of Thieves."

A panther-like creature dressed with a soldier uniform and armed with a sword and a giant shield with various weapons stored in it materialized in the Battle Zone alongside Robert's current army of creatures. On its bicep, emerged the Survivor's Mark, forcing it to join alongside Bronze-Arm Tribe.

"And then Bronze will break another shield!"

Bronze-Arm Tribe readied it's pitchfork again and threw it, spearing another shield into bits. CJ retrieved the shield and added it to his hand.

 _ **CJ**_

 _ **Shields: 3-2**_

"What is he waiting on?" Jamie was growing concerned. "With all that mana he has to have a plan or something?"

"He could be waiting to draw something and doesn't want to risk losing Golden Wing." Jake suggested. "It would only make sense in retrospect."

"But what?

Jake turned to Nate and Robert who stood at a distance. "Whatever it was they gave him at the outset. And chances are what's going to beat him once and for all."

CJ drew. A surprised look on his face came forth, causing him to glance at his Mana Zone. A smirk began to develop, catching Robert's attention.

"I end my turn."

"Whatever you just drew won't help you." Robert said drawing. "I'm ending this here and now. "I summon Balloon Mushroom Q!"

A large fungus creature materialized, with its Survivor Mark towards the base of it. It began to glow, corresponding to its fellow Survivor's Marks.

 _ **Balloon Mushroom Q**_

 _ **Civilization: Nature**_

 _ **Power: 2000**_

"Bronze-Arm Tribe, Mighty Bandit, break his shields!" Robert ordered his creatures. Bronze threw its Pitch fork into the air and Mighty Bandit went after it, catching it in midair as it dove, taking down CJ's last two shields.

 _ **CJ**_

 _ **Shields: 2-0**_

"And now… Omnistrain, end this!" Robert motioned to the card but stopped, his expression growing in surprise as one of the shields reformed before him.

"You're not the only one with Shield Triggers!" CJ pointed out. "Shield Trigger: Mana Nexus; This spell allows me to take one card from my Mana Zone and add it to my Shield Zone face down. And for added measure, I chose a second Mana Nexus."

 _ **CJ**_

 _ **Shields: 0-1**_

"Nice one!" Nate exclaimed. CJ turned to his Father who gave him a thumbs up. CJ couldn't help but smile nodding in agreement.

Robert clicked his tongue in disappointment. "Prolonging the inevitable. Omnistrain, get rid of it!"

Omnistrain obeyed its order, reaching over and slashing the shield.

 _ **CJ**_

 _ **Shields: 1-0**_

The shards came back to CJ and like before he revealed it. "Shield Trigger: Mana Nexus. From my mana, I add Natural Snare."

 _ **CJ**_

 _ **Shields: 0-1**_

CJ drew and set mana. "Now, once again, ROAR THE SAVAGE HERO! FIGHTER DUAL FANG!"

Tsume returned to the Battle Zone, this time his arms crossed and standing triumphantly. His stance reflected CJ's determination and confidence that the duel was sealed in his favor.

"With Dual Fang, that's two more mana into my Mana Zone. I'm gonna follow up by summoning Fear Fang, evolving it into Barkwhip the Smasher, and then Raging Dash Horn.

Barkwhip and an orange-furred horned hound creature materialized alongside Tsume.

 _ **Raging Dash Horn**_

 _ **Civilization: Nature**_

 _ **Power: 4000+**_

"With Dash Horn, if all my cards in my mana zone are Nature Civilization, it gains +3000 Power and Double Breaker!"

 _ **Raging Dash Horn**_

 _ **Power: 4000-7000**_

"Seems as though you truly have inherited something from Nate. Your ability to stay on your feet no matter what comes your way. In a way I'm proud. If anyone was to inherit my Guardian Creature, I'm glad it was you."

Silence fell in the group, the revelation even bringing Tsume to a standstill.

And then anger. CJ's hand rested on Barkwhip's card and he tapped it. "Attack Bronze-Arm Tribe!" it switched to Fighter Dual Fang. "Attack Mighty Bandit!"

Barkwhip used its whip to grab Bronze-Arm tribe and pull it closer. With its hammer it smashed the creature into nothing, Dual Fang in a similar way easily overpowered Mighty Bandit, snapping its sword into two and having the blade come down on it.

Instead of particles the two creatures turned into condensed balls of light and faded.

"Balloon Mushroom sends all of my destroyed Survivors into my Mana Zone." Robert explained, setting the cards. He looked up at CJ, who's expression grew even hotter. "What is it now?"

"How…how could you?"

"How could I what?"

"Tsume…and the others have no memories before being in these prisons!" CJ showed his Deck Case. Don't tell me you're responsible for that too!"

Robert grew silent. "A necessary evil to make ends meet."

"STOP SCREWING WITH US!" Tears were beginning to force themselves out of CJ. "Just how far are you willing to go?!"

Robert slammed the table, himself growing hot. "You people…you people don't understand anything! _None_ of you understand what kind of power Quazla boasts, what kind of influence he and the other Cyber Lords have! I will do whatever it takes if it means that I can protect my home!"

"Was it worth stealing their memories?!"

"THEY WERE AFRAID!" Robert screamed. Robert panted, his voice overpowering CJ's. "They…He…was afraid of Quazla's power. I only took it, so they would forget. So they could fight him without having that fear of him…"

Robert drew. "Natural Snare on Dash Horn. Omnistrain breaks your last shield…"

The vines coiled around the beast and took it away and Omnistrain took out CJ's final shield.

 _ **CJ**_

 _ **Shields: 1-0**_

"Shield Trigger, Natural Snare on Balloon Mushroom Q." CJ responded, watching as the vines took down the fungus.

"You must see things my way now, don't you?" Robert said, his voice growing solemn. "We're all afraid. Director Roman is afraid. And instead of taking affirmative action, he wants to play it safe and keep what we do a secret. Meanwhile Quazla _continues_ to use his exploits to manipulate his way into this world… I can't…I will not follow an organization that's willing to have us all wiped out when we have a clear fighting chance."

CJ drew, and found himself chuckle lightly. "That word again… Manipulate." He looked up at Robert. "Damn, you have some nerve, don't you?"

That took Robert aback some.

"Like we told you before. We understand the threat. And you said it yourself, you believe in us. But we're not letting you mess with our heads anymore. We're not going to be pawns. We're going to do what we can to save _both_ worlds. That what it means. This is the legacy we inherited. This is the promise we made. We are the next generation of Kaijudo Duelist and we will see to it, human or otherwise, that any threat that ties to stand up against us, we'll crush it all the same!"

CJ then tapped thirteen of his seventeen mana. "I cast, Invincible Unity!"

Immediately the earth began to shake violently. From behind the group a gigantic tree began to rise from the ground in the center of the vast area. As it grew taller and taller, the astonishment of everyone except CJ was captivated by the might of the glorious tree. Its magnificence made It glow bright, erasing the darkness of the night and enveloping Manhattan in its glorious light.

"Is that…the World Tree?!" Robert manage to utter.

"Invincible Unity…All of my creatures gets a boosted +8000 Power _and_ Triple Breaker!"

 _ **Barkwhip, the Smasher**_

 _ **Power: 5000-13,000**_

 _ **Fighter Dual Fang**_

 _ **Power: 8000-16,000**_

"It ends here…" CJ tapped Barkwhip and the glowing ogre creature jumped into the air, bringing its empowered hammer down. The seismic waves shattered three shields instantly, leaving Robert still dumbstruck.

 _ **Robert**_

 _ **Shields: 3-0**_

"This is the beginning of our chapter. The beginning of our adventure. The beginning…" he tapped Fighter Dual Fang, "Of our Legacy!"

Tsume roared and dashed ahead for a direct attack. Omnistrain jumped in to oppose him, but the sheer overwhelming power of the World Tree granted Tsume with unparalleled power. Tsume brought the sword down on Omnistrain, cutting it cleanly in half. The last Survivor simply could not withstand the might of the creature and met its end one final time, the impact blasting Robert away from the table, his cards scattering about all over his side. Omnistrain's essence simply burned away by the light of the tree until it was completely gone for good.

* * *

CJ's eyes reverted back to their normal color and rolled back, him collapsing finally. His friends frantically ran over, relieved by the smile traced on his face.

"That…was wild…" CJ uttered weakly.

"Yeah that was. But it was awesome, who knew you could do that?" Dylan said, sitting him up.

"Y'know, we just became partners this morning…" Jamie said, kneeling down. "If you wanted to be rid of me that easily, you could've just told me instead of risking your life like that."

CJ scoffed at the comment. "What, are you actually showing concern for this 'creep'?" CJ asked, looking at her.

"Yeah well you can't die until I prove to you that I'm not a sore loser, now can I?" Jamie smiled. She held her fist out to him. "Good job partner."

CJ nodded and fist bumped her. "Likewise, partner."

Karon crossed his arms and looked over to Robert who was approached by Jake. He started for a moment before helping Dylan get CJ back on his feet.

Jake looked at his father, who deep breathing was accompanied by an unregretful smile on his face.

"So, was all of this worth it?" Jake had to ask him.

Robert struggled to sit up. "You kids are something else. But I'm confident that this will all pay off in the end. This Crusade is far from over after all."

Jake turned to his friends, Nate and Jonah joining them, watching them congratulate CJ on his victory. Jake nodded. "Yeah; Now that I know what I'll be up against I can start planning."

Robert smirked. "That's what I like to hear…"

* * *

 _ **[Several Weeks Later…]**_

* * *

Nate knocked on the office door before him, his heart doing laps in his chest. Once he heard the confirmation to walk in, he opened the door before him. Across the room at the desk, sat an older gentleman. Full, silver hair resting on his head with a thin matching moustache. His black suit and bright red tie only amplifying his statue.

"Director Roman." Nate saluted.

Roman nodded, acknowledging his presence. "What news do you have to share?"

Nate nodded, pulling his tablet out. Typing something on the screen he set it on the table, having the device project a holographic screen. "These are what our informant in the Water Civilization managed to gather."

The video showed various Liquid People and Cyber creatures moving about, with various parts and other equipment, almost as if they're building something.

"And?" Roman looked up at him.

"What if Robert wasn't lying about Quazla?" Nate proposed.

"Making that assumption is a gamble we've already taken. And it's taken our version of the World Tree and Schuka's mind wipe ability to fix it. We just don't have the resources or the time to focus on a hypothesis."

"But you of all people especially know how cunning Quazla is."

"Which is why I'm not jumping to conclusions so easily." Roman said. He pushed the tablet back towards him. "If it's really that much of a concern, then I suggest Draconis holds a Council meeting with the other leaders, let them sort this out. Until then, any other news you bring me will concern the City-Wide Duel Circuit, is that understood?"

Nate took his tablet back and typed something else, then turning the tablet back. "The five Trial Masters have been selected and registrations are set to start this weekend. Everything's right on schedule."

"Now that's news I'd like to hear." Roman folded his hands. "Excellent work."

Nate nodded and turned back.

"Oh, by the way…" Roman said, not looking up from his desk as he wrote.

Nate stopped and turned back. "Sir?"

"Feel like trying something different for lunch today. Any recommendations you suggest?"

"Sushi Yasuda on East 43rd if you like Japanese."

"Heard good things about them. Alright, that sounds like a plan, thank you."

Nate chuckled. "No problem sir." That in mind Nate exited the office. Outside, Jonah, dressed in a DCA-affiliated lab coat over his semi-casual attire awaited him.

"Didn't budge, did he?"

"Not even an inch."

"Even after all these years that man's still stubborn as a rock. Where to from here?" he asked as they started walking.

"I'm going to have Draconis call an emergency Council meeting with the other leaders. I know there's been concern over on their side as well so if we can get any kind of plan moving, truthfully I'm all for it."

Jonah nodded. "Agreed."

"By the way, haven't gotten around to it, but how is Luke doing?"

"He and Cynthia are recovering still. This particular Virus refuses to die outright. But the both of them have the support of their teammates, so I'm not too worried."

"Yeah, I read up on her file. I didn't realize she was related to Connor McKnight. You remember him, don't you?"

"How could I forget? Hot head was as brash as you were, if not worse."

"We Fire duelists call it 'Passion'."

"Water duelist call it 'Brash'." Jonah replied. "Because that's exactly what it is. Although you're right. He and Kim were definitely passionate about the DCA and what it used to stand for."

"Yeah… We owe it to them to make up for the sins of our past." Nate said.

"Agreed. Speaking of children, how is your son doing nowadays?"

"You mean after he Oversynced to everyone's shock? Well for now, that seems to be a one-time thing. And for now, his friends and him are focused now on balancing this new aspect of their lives, like we did. That in mind though, I have noticed there's some tension between him and Jake, Robert's son."

"Now that I wouldn't worry about too much." Jonah reassured. "We were teenagers before and these things happen. Whatever they have going on between them will come to pass when it does. And who knows, if it takes the world ending for a second time to do that, then so be it."

"I'm _really_ hoping it doesn't come to that. I'm getting too old for this."

"That's why we have kids to do it for us."

Nate laughed. "Got a point there."

* * *

CJ dropped his bag between his feet and leaned up against the door of the train he boarded that morning. The typical rush hour scene, at this point being the only stable thing in his life at this point. "Noise, pollution and obnoxious people," simply can't compare to what he's been through at this point.

His eyes wandered absently, before locking onto the person who stood across from him. The fair-skinned girl with silky black hair looked back at him, feeling his gaze. She picked up her bag and walked over to him, snapping him out of his trance.

"A simple 'hi' would've worked you know." Jamie dropped her bag and slid next to him between him and the rail.

CJ yawned. "Hi. There, happy?" He asked him.

Jamie rolled her eyes. "Creep."

"Sore loser." CJ nudged her.

The pair of teens stood together for a moment, prompting Jamie to speak up. "Not looking forward to school. First day back from spring break is never the greatest."

"Can we really call what we went through 'Spring Break?'" CJ asked her. "Only my parents would think it would be a good idea to spend our much-needed vacation studying at the DCA."

"Well I had fun." Jamie said.

"Of course, you did. That's because my Dad gave you that Evolution Creature for a job well done. All I got was a pat on the back for saving the world from an other-worldly pandemic."

"Yeah…guess I can see where you're coming from. A group of misfit teens save all of New York City, but no one remembers it happening." Jamie looks around. "You're welcome…" she whispered under her breath.

It was loud enough for CJ to hear and he chuckled. Jamie smiled, achieving her goal. She sighed and moved the hair from her face. "So…talk to Jake recently?"

"Define talk."

"One-on-One conversations between two people. Kinda like what we're doing now."

"Nope."

"Right. Well just know that it sucks being in the middle of my best friend/co-leader, and my partner."

"Then tell your best friend to get his act together and get over it."

"Why don't you seeing as you're his best friend too?"

"I was. After everything that happened that night, I find it really hard to get over the fact that he knew everything that his father was doing."

"Right and I get that, but that doesn't change that he's still your leader."

"And so are you. As far as I'm concerned, your word, not his."

"Then go make up with him."

CJ realized he was caught and fumbled. "You know what I mean!"

"Then go make up with him. That's an order."

The train slowed up and the pair grabbed their stuff.

CJ turned as the door opened. "Thank god we're not married…" he mumbled absentmindedly.

"If we were I've probably would've killed you already." Jamie responded, following behind him.

Arriving at Fiona Academy, Jamie and CJ arrived at their first period class which was History. Amongst the students already present, Jake, Karon and Dylan were in their respected seats already. Jamie took her seat next to Jake and CJ's seat behind Dylan.

"Bro, did you hear? Simon's out for good."

CJ was taken aback. "What really? What happened to him?"

"Rumor has it he couldn't handle the stress the school was putting him under. Dude had a heart attack."

"He was like eighty-something, he had no business teaching anyway. So what now? Who's gonna be our new teacher."

"No clue, but rumor has it it's Principal Frediano's granddaughter."

CJ rolled his eyes. "Jeez Frediano's such a pain to deal with on the norm. God forbid her grandkid's any worse."

Dylan smirked. "Well then you're in for a surprise then."

Before CJ could inquire further the door to the classroom opened. A fair-skinned young woman with a braided blonde ponytail and rose-colored glasses entered the room.

"Good morning!" The woman cheerily exclaimed to the class, dropping her bag into the chair. Her unusual enthusiasm took the class by surprise. She grabbed the chalk from the blackboard and spelt her name across, even labeling any "I" in with a little hearts to replace the tittle.

"My name is Kaitlyn Frediano, and I am going to be your History Teacher for the remainder of the semester!" Her smile was obnoxiously huge, almost inhuman even. Her eyes connected with CJ and the latter quickly shifted from embarrassment when she noticed her smirk.

"Let's have fun this semester, okay everyone?" She asked the class.

CJ dipped his head further into his desk, finding this new teacher to be a total oddball.

He could only hope though, that this would be a nice change of pace if anything.

* * *

Jonah rode the familiar elevator downward after entering a specific code. Once it arrived on the floor, the once, dim-lit hallway was brightly lit. Reaching the end of the hallway, he entered the room where in the cell across from him, was Robert.

The latter looked up from his book and had to laugh. "Its amusing how now the roles are reversed."

"Granted everything would eventually lead to this." Jonah said.

"So it seems. But we both know it won't end like this." Robert said. "Sooner or later the DCA will fall and from the ashes will arise an organization who will fulfill what it sets out to do. I will either be there to see it unfold, or I'll die here, putting everything I have left on the faith that it will happen someday."

Jonah crossed his arms. "Faith…you know that's the one thing that kept me from going insane all of these years? Hold on to that. It'd be a shame for you of all people to lose it."

Robert nodded, going back to his book. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

"No, no I'm quite serious, actually. Hold on to it." Jonah reiterated. "Because you're going to need it once I'm done here in this world."

Robert stopped reading and looked up. Jonah's crooked smile only heightened Robert's realization.

"You humans are so much fun to play with." Jonah said, his eyes beginning to glow blue. "Wonder if it'll be just as amusing to watch you all suffer as well?"

"Quazla… this whole time…"

"This is farewell for now, Robert Wilson. An Emperor's time is one that's not to be wasted." Jonah turned and began to laugh.

"QUAZLA! GET BACK HERE! DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE ME DOWN HERE YOU MONSTER! QUAZLA!"

Jonah's laughter only grew as Robert's screams bounced from the walls.

"That's enough play time for now. Time to get ready for this meeting of ours…" Jonah snapped his fingers, a cybernetic portal sparking to life before him, revealing the Atlantean cityscape on the other side.

Once he was through, the portal closed, as if it was never there to begin with, and the lights in the hallway slowly cut out one after another until there was only darkness remaining…


End file.
